My Precious
by XX-Samantha-XX
Summary: When the team get a case and one of there own falls into the hands of the killer, will they save him in time, will he even be the same agent? Rating has gone up, now M rated.
1. My Precious

_Disclaimer: the characters aren't mine cry, I just like messing with them._

_Summary: A serial killer is about and she sets her eyes on one of the team._

_This is being written with my friend as well so we're just bouncing ideas off each other and this is what we came up with. Little warning it's kind of creepy and a bit gruesome, but we are a little twisted so enjoy._

**My Precious **

Evelyn purred in delight as the fear registered in his sparkling green eyes, his eyes were darting around the room, trying to find a way out. She enjoyed the look they had all got when they knew they would never get away from her, this one seemed stronger than most though, maybe, she would keep this one. _Yes, I like this one_ she thought maliciously. They all bended to her will eventually, they all broke, she loved to see the fight leave them. She also, liked them submissive. She giggled to herself a little, while moving her hand to slowly caress his face, and then her fingers travelled ever so lovingly downwards. Over his bare chest, twirling her fingers in his chest hair. The look of panic in his once calm eyes excited her; she would stop for now, and let him wonder what was going to happen next. She moved so she was looming over the prone form beneath her, she bent down, her lips next to his ear and whispered while stroking his face.

"This is only the beginning, my precious." She smiled, the slight panic she had seen before shifted to sheer panic. She wanted to keep him for as long as possible, but he worked. She would need to get in contact with his work friends. She fished around in his pants pockets, searching for his cell phone; she would ring his boss while on her way to work. Speaking of work, it was time to leave.

She shuffled around her room, gathering her things. She watched out of her window for a moment at the busy morning traffic, then closed the blinds. Her room was immersed in a dim light from the elegant lamp on the nightstand next to her bed. She took a quick look at the half naked, still figure on bed. She turned out of her room closing the door behind her, she then locked it from the outside so he wouldn't get away. As she stepped into the living room of her apartment, she noticed his coat, she moved it out of sight and left. Bolting the front door shut.

While outside the apartment building she called for a cab to drive her to the hospital, where she worked. She rummaged around her bag, locating the cell she had taken. She pulled up the list of contacts and called someone named Gibbs.

x-X-x

NCIS head quarters, Monday morning.

Special Agent Gibbs looked across at his empty senior field agent's desk, it was unlike Tony to turn up over half an hour late. He had a feeling something was going on, but couldn't tell what. Just as he was about to ask his other agents where is missing one was, his phone rang. He looked briefly at caller ID, seeing that it was DiNozzo he answered as gruffly as usual.

"Gibbs."

What he wasn't expecting was the timid voice on the other end. As she explained the situation he calmed a little, but something was still bugging him. He slammed the phone down, and looked up; McGee and Ziva were staring at him with questions in their eyes.

"Get back to work, we're a man down today." he ordered quickly.

"Boss, what about Tony." asked McGee, only stuttering slightly. He'd gotten quite used to his boss's tone first thing in the morning.

"He's sick; now don't make me ask again."

Both McGee and Ziva settled back to work. Ziva was keeping an eye on Gibbs; she could tell something was bugging him. Ziva wasn't sure but she had a strange feeling. She had spoken to Tony last night and he seemed fine then. He'd been talking about a date he was going on with a new neighbour in his building. She would ring him later to see how he was; she was his partner after all.

x-X-x

Tony breathed a sigh of relief as Evelyn left; he wasn't sure what the hell was going on. He couldn't move; yet he was awake. Anytime he had tried to talk his mouth refused to cooperate and only sounds came out. He really needed to get out of here, what the hell was this lady planning to do with him? If he was honest he was a little scared, I mean, who wouldn't be if they were half naked, not able to move even an inch, and some creepy lady wanting to do things that he didn't even know yet. When he had let his panic show at her ministrations, she had just smiled, with glee and lust in her cold blue-green eyes.

He had fist met her a day or so ago, _crap!_ He didn't even know what time it was at the moment. _Damn it! Gibbs is gonna be pissed, _he thought wryly. Won't Gibbs know something was hinky when he didn't show up to work? _Right I've had enough of just lying here, time to get yourself moving DiNozzo._

At first he tried to move his head, needing to see around the room rather than just the top half of it. His head slowly moved to the side. The room just looked like any other typical room, simple, a bed, a nightstand, a lamp and a window. There was however, a lack of personal possessions. That little tid bit bit of information made it seem like she wasn't going to be here long. At least he could move his head now. He took stock of the rest of his body, his muscles seemed numb, weak almost, what the hell was he given. His investigator mind told him that it must have been some sort of muscle relaxant, _damn_ he mumbled, sounding a little slurred. How long would it take for the effects to wear off?

He struggled for the better part of two hours. His arms flopped uselessly back down on the bed, he'd only managed to get them up maybe an inch. This was torture; he wasn't even restrained and yet, he still couldn't move. Maybe, that was the whole point, no matter what though. He _would_ try and find a way out.

x-X-x

"Gear up, we have a body."

Gibbs ordered. He didn't like not being backed up by Tony, it wasn't that he didn't trust the others, they just weren't Tony. He was the best agent he had worked with, he wouldn't admit it but he'd grown to like Tony like a son that he never had.

The journey to the crime scene was somewhat tense, Gibbs was driving like a madman as usual, but the air of lightness that Tony brought was missing. All of them would even kill to hear a stupid movie reference right about now.

The crime scene it's self was a mess. The alley the body was found in was overflowing with waste, cardboard boxes crumpled by the rain overnight. The body seemed untouched by the rain though, which meant that it could have only been dumped recently. Copper laced the air around the body, McGee was trying hard not to be sick. The body it's self was colourless, it seemed to have no blood left, it was all around it. The hair of the body matted, from lying in the crimson blood beneath it. The body was wearing only trousers and it's dog tags, which were smeared in blood. The stomach of the body was sliced open, spilling the contents within. On the wall, written in congealed blood were the words.

_'MY PRECIOUS'_

TBC

_Well, well, well, what's going on here then? Tune in next time. Please read and review._


	2. New Toy, Naughty Toy

_Thanks all for the awesome reviews to the first chapter of this; I wasn't sure about how you'd all take the idea. Sorry I've not posted sooner, exams are coming up so I don't really have time to write, and my ideas have just slipped away. I will still try and post as often as I can though, including with my other stories too. Here's the new chapter then with a new character, you will see where she comes into it…_

**Chapter 2- New Toy, Naughty Toy **

Evelyn went about work as usual, doing her rounds and making sure that all her patients were happy. She made sure that nobody suspected what she had done in the past, or what she continued to do. Nobody made a comment about her leaving in the middle of the night a few times as she did do extra shifts most of the time; if they did ask where she went, she would tell them she was sick or some other lie.

Her mind wondered and she thought about Tony, he had been driving her to distraction all morning. She had made sure to give him enough drugs to keep him immobile until she got back there tonight.

She hadn't been satisfied with her last toy, even though he had been a marine; he had succumbed to her will too quickly. She liked a challenge, he hadn't fought much, not even when the drugs she had given him wore off. She knew she was good but he had just given up, she hated him for that. That is why she had got rid of him, she vaguely remembered slicing into him and painting the wall with his blood. At the time her mind had drifted back to the new toy she had acquired and just written anything on the wall. She became excited at the prospect that he was waiting for her when she got home. She also remembered leaving the scene and returning to him, to have a little more fun.

"Eve." a familiar voice called out, Evelyn turned around to see her friend Ann.

"Are you coming out with me and the girls tonight?" asked Ann, hoping that Eve would say yes just this once.

"I'm sorry, I can't, I'm really busy" Evelyn made sure to sound truly apologetic about not going, _again_.

"Oh, okay, well when you have the time then?"

"Yes, alright, how about next week some time?" Eve did like going out, she was just preoccupied at the moment. She smiled again at what she was going home to.

"Okay, see you later." With that Ann left to go about her work.

The rest of the day went as normal as a nurse's job could go, she was a bit rushed off her feet but Evelyn couldn't wait to finish her shift and get back home. She hoped that no one had found the body of her old toy though. _Damn it!_ She cursed under her breath, she hadn't really hidden this body very well and it could have already been found. She shook the thoughts off, she hadn't been caught yet.

x-X-x

NCIS headquarters Tuesday morning.

They had all got home late last night and were expected to be in early this morning, as usual when working a case. They had been trawling through the ally all day, trying to collect evidence that was related to the case.

They had tried to contact the family of the marine, and tried to find friends that could tell them where he might have been in the last few days, nothing, and no one had the faintest idea where he had been, except that he had been in the hospital recently. Gibbs had been fuming that no one seemed to know where the marine had been the past few days, the marine's name was Dean O'Connor, and it seemed that he was a stand up marine.

Apparently he had been sick recently and had been being taken care of from a female friend. Damn it Gibbs cursed he needed DiNozzo on the case too, another set of eyes and all that, there was a lot of evidence to process. _Wait!_ Gibbs thought the last detail seemed familiar,_ being taken care of by a female friend_. He immediately dialled Tony's cell. Gibbs had a bad feeling about this.

The cell on the other end kept on ringing; he was just about to slam his phone down when it connected. The first thing he heard was a scuffling sound and then a thump. He moved away from his desk, already heading for the elevator. He needed to get to Tony and fast. He would ring the others on the way to Tony's apartment.

"Tony!" he practically screamed into the phone, trying to be heard over the sounds he could hear. Fear laced through him when they suddenly stopped.

"Agent Gibbs." a voice sneered on the other side of the line.

"What have you done to my agent?"

"Oh, you see your agent has been a very naughty boy and must be punished." She ignored his question completely.

"What have you done with him, let me talk to him." Gibbs asked again, he had seen the other body and wondered whether this lady had done it before. He was actually scared for his agent, he wasn't used to being caught off guard and scared, that made him mad at this lady. He heard a light giggle from the other end when she answered back.

"I'm afraid he can't speak at the moment he is…" she paused trying to calm her giggling. "…incapacitated, oh and don't bother trying to find him, you may as well say goodbye now... Oh wait he can't talk, shame." She laughed manically, taunting the agent.

"What the hell do you want with him?" before he could get the answer she cut him off, he still held the phone long after it had gone silent. That last comment had got to him on a deep level he hadn't known he had for a while. He cared about his agents, maybe, too much. But then again, that could be the reason why they were the best team at NCIS.

He called the rest of the team to get to Tony's apartment, now. He called Abby to get her to track Tony's phone signal. _That_, was after calming her down after telling her Tony was in trouble _again_. She swore that when they got him back she would put a tracking chip in him. He hoped that she wasn't planning to kill Tony; he had now figured that she had killed the marine.

x-X-x

Back in her apartment, Monday afternoon/night

Tony had tried to get up for a little while longer before giving into sleep. She had invited him to dinner in her apartment, he had no idea that she had set her eyes on him from the moment she saw him. He couldn't believe he had been so easily fooled, trust him to get kidnapped by a serial killer just because he accepted an invitation for dinner. He had heard her mumbling about other 'Toys', he got the feeling that it meant other men had been in this same position. He shuddered as much as his muscles allowed him, partly from cold and partly from fear. He tried to remember how this even happened.

_Flashback…_

_He remembered feeling a little drowsy after the meal, not that is was particularly unusual after a good filling meal. Then his muscles stopped working altogether. He tried to push her away when she grabbed him and hauled him to her bed, but his muscles hadn't listened. _

_He was thrown on the mattress, stripped of his shirt and she just watched him for a while. He could feel her cold eyes boring holes into him. She left a while later and then came back. _

_Then in the morning she had threatened him, saying that this was only the beginning and gone out. Leaving him to try and escape. _

He was startled a little out of his flashback when a door opened, it was the front door. Adrenalin coursed through him, giving back his control, he made it unsteadily behind the door so he could grab her and try to get away.

He could hear the locks being turned. He felt a little light headed from either the vertical movement or the drugs still in his system, he shook the feeling off and watched as she entered. The next few minutes happened so quickly his mind barely registered what happened.

She entered her room and found her bed to be empty, she cursed and started to turn around, he had to be in the room somewhere. Then a phone rang, Tony grabbed for the phone from behind her, noticing the familiar ring tone. He tried to restrain her; his muscles were still a little weak and couldn't fight for long. She was strong as well for such a small person. She pushed him against the wall. His head connected against it, he saw stars then nothing but darkness filled his vision.

She smile as she felt him collapse to the floor. This could work in her favour; if he had a concussion then he could be confused, meaning that she could twist his mind against his friends. She heard a shouting on the other end of the phone, she knew that her cover was blown and decided to just tell his friends that they weren't going to get him back. She laughed at the responses Agent Gibbs gave; he was really worried for her new Toy. She was going to take care of him though. What was there problem? She would need to move to somewhere else, maybe, her little safe house…

TBC

_Oh no where is she taking him (grins evilly, she wouldn't hurt him too much, would she?). Well I hoped you all liked that chapter; I must admit it was fun to write. Please read and review. _


	3. Hers to Control

_Sorry this one has taken so long to update I got distracted by my very angsty NCIS fics lol. Hope you are still enjoying this one hehe Ooh you should read RuthLeilani's new story called Control Freak, it's quite good. _

**Chapter 3 – Hers To Control**

A day later…

Tony groaned as he made his way slowly back to consciousness, his head was pounding and his limbs felt heavy. A soothing yet unfamiliar voice was speaking to him. What the hell? He thought briefly as he started to hear what the voice was saying.

"Shh Tony, it's okay, nobody is going to hurt you baby." He shivered a little as he felt her breath close to his face. _That_, was when he noticed that she was stroking his face in calming motions. He was a little nervous that somebody he didn't seem to know was _that_ close to him and he seemed to be shirtless. As if sensing his discomfort the voice spoke again. It was ever so tender, why couldn't he remember it?

"It's okay, I won't hurt you. I was so worried you wouldn't wake up." She really did sound genuinely worried.

As she spoke he opened his eyes he got his first look at her and where he was. The room was pretty normal looking, though a little familiar, like he had been in one similar to it recently. He just couldn't place it. An oak desk was set in one corner underneath a window; the soft morning sunlight tumbling through the netting, a matching dresser was opposite the bed in which he was lying. The curtains were drawn and a deep red in colour, they stood out against the cream coloured walls. Well he wasn't in his apartment, that's for sure, _so where?_ Now looking closer at her he took in her features. Her eyes a chocolate brown which matched her hair, her face well filled, hmm not his usual type but really pretty. _Who is she? _He just couldn't place her.

"Who-" he asked a little weakly, that was when he noticed that he was a little more lethargic than usual when getting up. Had he been given something? Why couldn't he seem to remember…anything? Wasn't there something he was meant to be doing? Upon hearing the question she started immediately stroking his head and making him feel sleepy.

"Shh it's okay baby, you're safe, don't worry about a thing." He saw a flash of something pass her eyes that he didn't like the look of and stilled her hand. He asked again.

"Who are you?" she seemed offended with the question and pouted a little, making him feel bad, should he remember her? She removed her hand from his grasp and continued stroking his hair.

"Don't worry baby it's just the concussion. I'm Evelyn remember." The name sounded familiar so he nodded. Where the hell had he got the concussion from? He couldn't think and he didn't like not remembering anything.

Not sure of what else to do he tried to get up out of bed. The world tilted a little and the soothing voice was back.

"Just relax Tony, you're safe." She cooed. Something wasn't feeling right; something was amiss, where the hell was he anyway. Bring his focus back as she sat next to him on the bed, he asked the other question that had been bugging him; his voice a little stronger now.

"Where exactly am I." again he saw a look pass her face, he couldn't pinpoint what is was, but it worried him a little.

"You're in my apartment silly, don't you remember?" he really didn't, then a flash entered his head.

_Evelyn was pottering around in her kitchen, making some food for them both. She then came towards him wearing a bright smile, he smiled back at her, she was really pretty. They couldn't keep their eyes off each other. _

After seeing the flash he nodded again feeling a little safer, he obviously knew her. And, had even shared a meal with her. But why couldn't he remember anything else?

"What happened?" he asked in confusion. She ran a comforting hand up his arm and spoke as if she were fearful of something. He shivered a little at the touch though, something felt wrong about it.

"Oh Tony it was horrible, a man threatened me and you tired to help, he..." she paused to wipe away a tear that escaped her eyes; he hated to see women cry so he placed a comforting hand on her arm. It did sound like something he would do, he liked to protect people. She stopped crying and continued, only hiccupping a little. "…he threw you against a wall, I'm so sorry baby." She clung on to him, he tried to tell her to move away, he wasn't comfortable with being this close to someone he hardly remembered, but it was muffled by her long brown hair.

Well it accounted for the aches in his body and the concussion, but there had to be something else, he felt like he was missing something important. Another flash assaulted his mind.

_He raced after a man, chasing him down, he had to get him for some reason. Upon catching up to the man he heard himself shout. _

"_NCIS, get down on the ground now!" he had a gun in his hand. _

Then he remembered where he worked and who he worked with, _Crap!_ He cursed in his head. Gibbs was going to kill him for being late. She had moved off of him now and moved out of the room, she returned quickly.

He tried to move but found a glass of water being pushed towards his face. He tried weakly to push it away but he was thirsty so he took the drink. She smiled sweetly at him. After the drink he tried to move again, finding it more difficult this time. _What the hell?_ All of a sudden he was really tired, his vision was going blurry.

"What's going on, I need to get to work." He slurred.

"Oh, it's okay, I called in sick for you, don't worry. I'll take care of you."

"But-" he tried to protest but found himself drifting off to sleep. The last thing he heard before succumbing was.

"Don't worry, my precious. I'll be here when you wake up."

The last thing he felt was that he wasn't exactly in control of his current situation and he didn't like it, not one bit.

x-X-x

She watched as he fell asleep, the concussion had done the trick well and she had acted very well, he seemed to believe it too. She giggled a little while moving off the bed. The sun was still shining, as was only mid day.

After calling Tony's boss she knew she only had a little time to move him but that hadn't been a problem, the problem now was trying to make him believe that he belonged to her. Hopefully she wouldn't get caught, she had changed her shifts at the hospital to night ones. Tony would be locked in the house at night and she would drug him enough so that he would sleep. Eventual, she _would_ wear him down. Make him do every thing and anything she wanted.

Looking out of the window she twirled her hair, the sun's rays shone across open fields, the house they were in was miles away from the city, where nobody would ever find them. She knew that his boss was looking for him but the fact that she would hide in plain sight made her feel like she would accomplish something, I mean his boss was meant to be the best in NCIS. She smiled at the prospect of getting one up over the agent.

The other toys had been failures; she needed this one to be a success. She really liked this one, he was strong and it would be fun to break his spirit and have him listening to her every word. It would take some time but it would be worth it in the end.

Looking toward the sleeping agent, just watching the rise and fall of his shirtless chest, she planned what she would tell him the next time he woke up.

x-X-x

The night before at Tony's apartment…

"Clear!" yelled Special Agent McGee. McGee and Ziva had arrived at the same time as Gibbs, they had proceeded straight up to their friend's apartment knowing that he was in trouble.

Having broken the door down, just in case he had needed help quickly they searched the rest of the apartment and found nothing. They deflated a little at the findings; nothing seemed out of place, nothing broken, no sign of struggle. Just nothing, no sign of their friend.

"Damn it, nothing." Cursed Gibbs, he had lost Tony. and all because he hadn't checked in with his agent personally. They didn't even have any leads on the case, nothing that pointed to the murder.

"David! McGee! get back to headquarters and see what you can find." Both agents nodded and moved out the room.

He was going to interview all the people on the floor to see whether they had seem anything suspicious. He needed to do something to find his agent, he'd be damned if he was going to lose anyone on his watch again. He winced at the fact that McGee would have the hard job of telling Abby that Tony was missing yet again, but McGee seemed to be able to calm her better than he did. He had work to do, you couldn't exactly tell people that sort of thing over the phone anyway…

TBC

Hehe well there you go, hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please read and review as always.


	4. Taking His Control

_Seen as I made you all wait so long for the previous chapter I thought that I would give you another. Again sorry for the long wait for this story. And I had a random writing burst hehe. Enjoy. Some of the next chapter may take a bit longer to post as I am having to research the idea for this quite a bit. _

**Chapter 4- Taking His Control **

Tuesday evening…

Having arrived back at headquarters both McGee and Ziva shared a nervous look; they weren't looking forward to telling Abby that Tony had gone missing _again_. Moving slowly in to the lab, they were immediately hit with the usual music which was a common thing in Abby's lab. Turning off the music Ziva nodded to McGee, signally that he would be the one to tell the ever hyper scientist. McGee sighed and schooled his look before Abby turned around and greeted him in her usual manner.

"Hey, Timmy, what you got for me?" Abby looked around the lab sensing another presence, upon seeing Ziva she knew something was wrong. Where was Gibbs?

"What's going on guys, where's Gibbs?" She tried to reign in the fear that crept upon her. Tim took a deep breath and answered the question as calmly as possible.

"Gibbs is interviewing Tony's neighbours-" he was cut off by Abby's sudden panic.

"Tony…why is he interviewing Tony's neighbours, I thought Tony was sick…oh my god Timmy don't tell me, please." Taking his silence to mean something bad was happening a few tears escaped her eyes, the black make up leaving tracks down her cheeks. Moving to embrace Abby, McGee tried to sooth her distress.

"Abby calm down, it's nothing that bad, it's just… he's." he started stuttering.

"He's what?" came the muffled reply.

"He's missing and we think it has something to do with the case we have at the moment." At that Abby paled and she grew silent, a silent Abby was just as concerning as a silent DiNozzo. The two were so much alike that they could be seen as brother and sister.

Looking Abby in the eyes he firmly told her that they would find him. McGee and Ziva left her with some security tape to look over from Tony's building and went up to the bull pen to start looking for anything of use.

x-X-x

Pulling out from Tony's apartment building, Gibbs scrubbed a hand over his tired face, the team had been up all day and most of the night. Knowing that his agents would be doing everything that they could, he went to get some coffee for them all. The night was still, the only thing moving were the other cars and the birds. The sky was somewhat overcast and the news reports said to expect more rain in the next few days. He could only hope that it didn't contaminate any other crime scenes that may arise. He had a feeling that this person had done it before and had already informed Ziva to work that angle, McGee would be tracing Tony's credit cards and cell phone.

Getting back on the road after ordering the coffee he headed to headquarters hoping that they had something they could work with, something, anything that might point towards where Tony was. Knowing that his agents would need to sleep for at least a little while he decided that re interviewing the hospital staff could wait until tomorrow. He had a feeling that there was something at the hospital that could point towards who is was, but couldn't see the connection at the moment.

Back at headquarters…

Arriving at Headquarters, Gibbs went to Abby's lab first, she would be mad at him for not telling her himself but would understand that it was him that needed to do the interviews. The eerie quite of the lab was not a shock to him, he'd seen it many time before. Usually it was because of something to do with Tony either being hurt or missing, it was also like that when it involved the rest of the team.

As stepped in to the lab, he was immediately engulfed by a blur of black and white. Wrapping his arms around her he tried to sooth the crying lab tech.

"Don't worry Abs, we'll find him." Not being one to be soothed today she replied not really believing what he had just told her.

"But, Gibbs it's always him, he's gonna run out of lives, please bring him back safe, please, do you promise?" The words were a little choked-up but he understood them.

"Abs you know I can't promise, but I will do my best. If he isn't he'll be answering to me." Pulling away from him a little, she smiled at the implied order; she knew that Tony would listen under threat of having to deal with Gibbs afterwards. Passing Abby the Caff-Pow he had gotten her, she returned to her monitors looking over the tape.

"You got anything yet Abs?"

"No, nothing." She replied deflated. He hated to see her hurting and would do everything he could to try and fix it. Bidding her good-bye he headed towards autopsy, hoping that Ducky might have something on the marine's body.

Autopsy…

"Ah, Jethro, I was expecting you sooner." The elderly ME greeted, he saw a troubled look in his friend and knew that it had come from Anthony being missing yet again. He saw Anthony more time to treat wounds than he saw his own friend.

"You got something for me, Duck?"

"Ah yes, you see here," Ducky pointed to the wound on the body's stomach, upon looking even Gibbs felt a little queasy, it was a mess, the inside organs had practically been sliced and diced. Remembering that Ducky was talking he turned his attention back towards him, "as you can see, the motions of the knife seem manic, but well trained. I believe that we are looking for someone in the medical profession as they seemed to have used a scalpel for the primary incision." Just before Ducky got on to one of his stories Gibbs thanked him and headed back to the bull pen…

x-X-x

Wednesday evening…

Tony found himself waking up yet again, unlike the last time it wasn't a new room, just was a little bit creepier in the dark. The only light that was shining through the netting was the moon light. _How long have I been here_ he wondered? He vaguely remembered a lady with long brown hair…Eve…Evelyn that's what her name was, and remembered that she had said he was safe here but he knew something was off.

Moving his tired body off of the bed he almost fell to the ground as his knees buckled, but caught him self on the edge of the bed. He hated the way he felt, his mind was foggy like he had been drugged, his limbs were weak and his head was pounding. His stomach rumbled and he realised that he was really hungry, odd he thought, when was the last time he had eaten? Heading unsteadily to the bedroom door he went in search of something to eat and something to drink. If he was going to get better and get back to work he would need something to sustain him.

He twisted the door knob but found that it wouldn't budge; rattling it to see if it would move panic crept upon him when it didn't. Was he a prisoner? Why couldn't he leave the room? Almost laughing at his own panic he remembered that he was a trained investigator and started looking around the room for anything he could used to open the door. While searching the room he became a little cold and searched for a shirt, not finding anything of use he sighed and sat back on to the bed, hope that the lady would come back soon so he could ask her questions, feeling a little weak and needing to rest his head he was asleep within 20 minutes of waiting.

Later that evening…

He was awoken by the opening of the door, shaking the cobwebs from his mind he moved upwards and started to get out of bed but she moved quicker and held him on the soft bed. The hold firm but not, not too forceful.

"Hey baby, I've brought you something to drink and to eat." Needing the food and drink he took it albeit a little reluctantly, remembering that the last time he had taken food of her he had been drugged. After finishing he became aware of her watching him, it was a little creepy if he was honest but knew that he couldn't get out of the room as she had locked it again, he was surprised to find that he was a little grateful for the food, it wasn't anything special, merely a sandwich, but at least it was something.

As investigators they were taught to comply with captors if you couldn't find a way out straight away, some sort of survival technique apparently. He laughed in his head at it, yeah like he was ever going to fully comply with this lady, who he now knew was trying to control him. His brain had just been confused the other day, while he had been sleeping he remembered how had been captured in the first place. Actually, how long had he been here?

"What day is it?" he dared to ask, he smiled as if nothing was wrong, he could act as well. She gave him an odd look not quite expecting him to ask that question and thought a lot about the answer.

"It's almost Thursday, why? I've called in for you; you don't have to worry about your boss." She replied in a normal tone. _Yeah_, like he believed _that_.

He mustn't have hid the look of disbelief very well as the next thing he was aware of was her hands around his throat, ever so slowly cutting off his oxygen supply. As grey spots appeared in his eyes he heard her voice but it seemed disconnected.

"I'll let you live if you be a good boy."

What the hell he thought, was he a little kid now. He tried to push her away but the more he fought, the tighter the hands got. He was very tempted by her offer to live. Her eyes glimmered in pleasure at his failing strength; just before she knew he was going to become unconscious she spoke again.

"Do you want to live?" she whispered after lowering her head next to his ear, she felt the shudder her breath caused him. Tony was actually panicking a little now he was choking to death and he wanted to live so he nodded.

She let go so he could get his breath back again then plunged another needle into his arm. She smiled at him as his focus returned, he flinched a little when the needle entered his skin but stayed still otherwise.

Feeling a little light-headed Tony struggled to get breath back into his already damaged lungs, gulping in large mouthfuls. On feeling the needle he wondered what could be in it but found out as soon as his muscles started freezing again.

He could only watch and feel what she was going to do next, he tried to get away as she curled up next to him, making him feel extremely uncomfortable. Looking around the room again he tried to see a way out, looking upon the door he saw that it was open. When did she do that? he wondered. The door itself was stood open as if taunting him, showing him that he was trapped within this place and wasn't getting out any time soon. He really hoped that Gibbs knew where to find him because he really couldn't see a way out, she either locked him in or kept him drugged and it had already been going on since Sunday, he wasn't that sure how much longer he could live with no control over anything he did. After the most recent incident he felt as if even his breathing was controlled and he didn't like it, not one bit…

TBC

_Well I hoped you liked it, can anyone guess where this is going? Lol I'm not sure how long it will be yet but it might get quite long just to warn you. Thanks for reading and please review. _


	5. Escape?

_Thanks for the reviews everyone. This is purely a Tony torture chapter so enjoy, may get a little graphic though so tell me if I need to change the rating I'm not sure what the rating should be as I don't usually write this sorta disturbing stuff…_

**Chapter 5-Escape?**

Tony didn't get much sleep that night; actually, he didn't get any. He spent most of the night struggling against an invisible force coursing through his body. He couldn't escape, not even if he tried. Even with the door to the bedroom open, he hated being helpless. Especially like this, he knew that his team must have believed her lies because they would have come for him. Wouldn't they? If they did believe her, he would have no one to rescue him. No chance of getting away, getting out.

Her breath was drifting across his skin; it was ever so gentle, almost arousing, teasing… _Wait!_ _Hell,_ he was _not_ liking it, he wasn't. He knew she had killed before and here he was, liking the way her breath felt against his skin, the way her soft scantly clad skin was pressing up against his, his own body betraying his thoughts. His body reacting to her touch and it sickened him a little, his loss of control. _This is so not happening_ he thought worriedly. He was not starting to like her. Was he?

What the hell was going on, she had been nice, given him food and water but then threatened him, switching as if she were a switch. Some moments she would be too close and he would be frozen, he hated that he could feel everything that she did, feel himself starting to like the touches. He knew it was bad but…what else was he supposed to do. He couldn't run she would kill him. Strangle him to death as if she knew one of his fears, suffocation. He had been scared of that since his brush with the plague. Did she know that too, did she know his weaknesses? What did she know about him?

Then she stirred.

Crap, what was he going to do, he still couldn't move. Trying not to panic at the thought of what she was going to do, he tried moving again. It had been hours since she had injected him, some of his limbs were tingling, that meant, he'd be able to move soon. Wouldn't he? Then he could stumble to the door and away, far away from her.

She stretched out a little, and brushed her hand across his waist, a little too low for his comfort, he flinched ever so slightly, the drugs were wearing off again. He tried to mumble for her to get the hell off but he couldn't. She was stroking again, his chest, running her hands further and further down, teasing, taunting. Getting closer to where he didn't want her to touch, but always stopping when she got to the top of his comfortable worn jeans, for that he was glad. He didn't want her anywhere near _that_ part of him. No way, not a chance in hell. But he couldn't stop her, he felt vulnerable and he hated it, it scared him. She was messing with his mind, making him think the worse, he knew it, but he couldn't help but think the worse in his current situation. Was she going to use him for her own means?

As if sensing his panic she soothed her voice like liquid honey. " It's okay baby, just let me take care of you." He tried to talk but all that came out was noises. _This was not being taken care of_ he thought worriedly; just what the hell did she want from him.

His body reacted more as the effects of the drugs wore off, reacted to her touch. He shuddered, he didn't want her, but his body was telling him and her that he did. Then she was caressing his face again, he turned his head away from the hand, but she held it steady, he remembered the strangulation the last time and he panicked, was she going to do that again. If…if he was good she said she wouldn't. Didn't she? _Didn't she?_ He tried to remember but the drugs were getting to his mind too. What the hell was in them anyway?

Trying to keep his mind off what she was doing he didn't realise that she had gotten up; when he did, he heard the bedroom door close and lock again. _Well crap_ he thought; _there goes that attempt at escape_. Maybe, when she came back he could try. Why did he miss her touch now it was gone though?

Moving his aching muscles onwards he tried to get out of bed, his pounding head had gone down to manageable levels, he stumbled a little as he moved slowly towards the window.

Standing at the window he took in the surroundings. Great he was in the middle of nowhere, all alone with a crazy lady would had complete control. The sun rose lazily, the horizon a soft orange colour, the light filtering through the netting, creating a somewhat… romantic effect in the room? _Nope not thinking about that_, _Tony focus on getting out, getting back to your team. Gibbs is gonna kill you for being off…wait, what day is it…erm didn't she say Thursday… crap that meant he had already missed three days of work. Yep, he was a dead man. _

With a sigh he moved back towards the bed and actually had a look at it for the first time he had been here. The frame was a deep oak wood, the headboard had what looked like scratches in it, _oh that can't be good._ Taking his mind off that certain subject he again rummaged around the room in search of something to keep him warm, now he was up and somewhat fully awake he realised that it was a little cold in the room. Only finding a sheet in the cupboard, he wrapped it around himself as tightly as he could, not wanting her to come back and start touching him again, it was pretty creepy if he was honest. Even if his body _did_ like it, he didn't, he never would. Would he?

New questions popped into his mind. Would she hurt him again if he didn't do what he was told? Why did he suddenly feel the need not to want to anger her? Shaking the new fearful questions away he decided that the next time the door opened then he would escape.

Not expecting the door to open so soon he jumped a little at the noise, with the opportunity there he took it and raced to the door. She hadn't been expecting it but just smiled at the attempt, she knew he wasn't getting away anytime soon so she let him try, also knowing it would crush his spirit a little more as well.

As Tony rushed through the door he felt adrenalin course through him, maybe it was his lucky day, maybe, he would escape. Then when he could contact Gibbs then they would have caught a serial killer. What he didn't expect was the little twinge of fear that crept through him now he was alone; I mean she _had_ been looking after him for the past couple of days. He'd always hated to be alone and he needed to be wanted, and she wanted him, sure it wasn't a usual relationship but…_wait where the hell did that thought come from_ he wondered not realising that he'd stopped moving forward.

Noticing that he was in the middle of the field, in what looked like the middle of nowhere he suddenly felt really small and almost scared. Almost. His survivalist nature kicked in and he continued onwards, it's wasn't like he hadn't been lost before. His feet stung as they brushed over small rocks beneath, his muscles were weakening now, the adrenalin rush fading. He supposed that seen as she hadn't fed him yet that day then the rush wouldn't last long but had hoped it would last longer.

Looking back towards the house that he had been kept in the past three days he saw that it was a quaint little cottage type house, most likely far away from the city. He sighed as he realised just how far out of the city he must be to see houses like that. Stumbling a little as his energy levels faded more, the blanket he had wrapped around him snagged on a rock underneath and he tumbled. Tony put his hands out which broke the fall a little but one or two jagged rocks sliced into his left hand. The cuts weren't that deep but were bleeding a little more than he would like, stripping material off the blanket he wrapped it around his sore hand and tried to get up again. Breathing a little breathlessly from the exertion he had already put his body through he didn't hear the light foot step of Evelyn creeping up behind him…

TBC

_Couldn't resist a cliffy here sorry. I think another torture Tony chapter is in order after this one. What does she plan to do with him now? Why does he seem so confused about what's happening? Anyone figured out where this one is going yet? Thanks for reading and please review. _


	6. Making him believe

_Okay sorry for the wait for this and other stories I will update them hopefully today and tomorrow, hope you like this chapter, I thought you'd all enjoy another Tony torture one. (Grins) I have part of the next chapters for 'best forgotten' and 'A failing optimism' sat on the computer, just need to finish them. That should be out sometime tomorrow as it's nearly midnight at the moment. _

**Chapter 6- Making him believe. **

"Now, now Tony, is that the way to treat someone who is looking after you?" Tony froze at the calm yet cold tone of eve's voice. He'd had enough of this though; all the weakness and vulnerability he had shown over the last few days spurred him up and onwards. The landing on the floor hadn't been pretty and his muscles screamed as he moved but he needed to get away.

"Looking after me," he started, glad his voice had found it's self again, "drugging people so they can't move is _not_ looking after them." Turning away from her he marched away, needing to get back to work. Looking forward he focused his mind, looking for something familiar, finding nothing his resolve wavered a little but remembered that Gibbs would always find him.

"They won't come for you." She stated matter-of-factly, as if she knew something he didn't.

"You're lying." He replied knowing it wouldn't be true, or rather hoping it wouldn't be true. Though, he _had_ been there for a few days already and Gibbs hadn't come. She laughed heartily and was a little out of breath when she next spoke.

" Oh really, am I, then where are they?"

"They're just trying to find out who you are, they will come." She smiled slyly at him with hurt in her eyes.

"But, you were enjoying me taking care of you before; I could feel you shiver in need." Crap he thought, he had no answer to that and felt his face flush at his embarrassment, his body had liked her touch but he sure didn't. He turned away trying to hide the show of emotions across his face, he was confused frustrated and maybe slightly panicked as he couldn't see anywhere to go. Her tone was slightly sad and he felt somewhat responsible for it, however, he knew she was just playing him.

Shaking away the thoughts he again walked away from her, not seeing her hand reach for something in one of the pockets of her knee length scarlet coat. After taking a few steps he realised that she wasn't following but he refused to look back, if he did she might use her ticks on him again.

Only when a sharp stinging pain lashed across his back did he actually realise her approach had been silent. The force of the blow sent him to the ground, he grunted in pain as he hit. His breathing had become ragged, he'd wasted too much energy trying and failing to get away. He was part way up when she lashed out again causing his knees to buckle, she wasn't being gentle and even the first lash has cause him to bleed a little, having lost the blanket his skin was out in the open. Then her voice was in his ear again, though it was hard to hear over the rushing of his blood.

"Shhh baby, you won't get hurt if you don't try to escape." she whispered in a loving tone, then kissed the side of his face softly, he flinched away a little but the pain of his battered body meant he couldn't go very far. Helping to get him up off the ground she wrapped a soft hand around his waist while talking soothingly, though words being spoken were hardly soothing. "Its okay baby, I'll take care of you, you're team obviously doesn't care enough to. Though, if you fight back again I may have to hurt them for ruining our fun." So there was the rub, if he disobeyed her, his team would get hurt; she must have figured that he valued his friends' lives over his own.

But…how could the team be ruining her fun, was it because he still thought about them, he winced as she practically dragged him back into a house he didn't want to go back to. Her words weren't making sense, he knew that, he really did but…maybe, he was just hearing things. Could she really be actually taking care of him, even though she hurt him, had _he_ done something wrong? All he had been doing from the first moment was escape, what was so wrong with that, he didn't belong here.

"Why are you doing this?" he stuttered in slight panic as they neared the house. She let go of him abruptly and he stumbled a little at the loss of support, then he found himself thrown to the wall, her hands clamping around his throat again, cutting off his much needed oxygen supply. The vines and wooden slats were digging into his already painful back, probably pushing more dirt inside the wounds.

"Why," she cackled a little, "because I can, I only want to take care of you. You should be more grateful." She briefly looked disappointed as his world greyed out. The slap to his face startled him but only led to his visions getting worse, the little energy he had had vanished as he lost consciousness.

Evelyn huffed a little at the Agent's weakness as he slumped to the ground. Knowing nobody was around she walk into the house looking for something to tie him up with. Maybe, if he spent some time outside exposed to the elements then he would be more willing to do as she said. She would have to keep an eye on the cuts to his hands and back though, they could easily get infected. She smiled at the thought crossing her mind, infections led to fever and confusion, maybe she could use that to her advantage.

Taking a worn but firm leather leash out of the beside cupboard, she made her way back to the front of the house, she hated to hurt her toys, but in the first few days, it was always necessary. However, this new one name Tony seemed stronger then the others, they had already bent to her will by now. It was truly exciting how each time she looked in to is brilliant green eyes the light faded a little, she saw how much he would fight for his friends, maybe, if he didn't believe in them to get him out then he would be easier to break.

Looking upon the downed agent she took in his handsome features, she'd love to have him to control, gently stroking the hair out of his face, she sighed as she attached the leash to his wrist then to the wastage pipe running down the side of the front door coming from the guttering around the rim of the house. He stirred a little and opened his eyes a little, she soothed his confusion and stroked his warm forehead and he slipped back to sleep, not even noticing where he was. She smiled a little and left him there, she needed to get off to work.

Her shift today was a little earlier then what she had changed them to, but it wasn't a problem, he would sleep for the time being and there was no way of him find his way out of the leash anyway. The only reason she had been called was that the investigators were back and needed to question the staff; she already knew how to play the game though and wouldn't give up anything. There was nothing unusual about her behaviour, she was sure of it. Ann would back her up on anything as well.

The sun trailed across the sky as Evelyn was absent, watching the agent sleep fitfully in the chill of the season. Nature continued on its course, the birds singing, other hording food, trees and plants growing as the Agent's control slipped ever so slowly away. Even in his dreams he was loosing his grip on what he knew the fever hazed dreams turning his friends into enemies and enemies into friends. However, a slither of hope still remained the unquestionable trust he had in the man with the piercing blue eyes. Gibbs. He could always trust him to help; he just needed to wait until the team had a lead. Beyond the horizon storm clouds were brewing, as if nature could sense a change and it wasn't for the better or for the greater good of the agent…

TBC

_So next chapter is back to the team and their fight to find him. but what should happen at the interviews with the staff…_


	7. Nothing To Go On

_I know the chapters are coming slowly but I couldn't think of a way to progress this one especially, but alas my brain had power lol so here is the next chapter. Enjoy. _

**Chapter 7 -Nothing To Go On **

Abby sat silently, hands either side of her tired looking face, vacantly gazing at the computer monitor in front of her. She'd found her self here a lot recently.

There was no pounding sound of her usual music to keep her concentration, _that_ would mean everything was normal. The current situation was beyond normal, beyond hinky even, and she couldn't stand it.

Every spare moment she had gotten recently had been spent going over anything and everything on the case, checking every item of evidence she had, every security camera in the vicinity at the time, every fibre, _everything_. Her science had been used, checked, double checked and it still came up empty.

They'd used up all the leads they had in the first week of the investigation, Gibbs hadn't found anything with the interviews, Ducky's assessment about a medically trained professional was looking more and more obvious. The person they were looking for was meticulous, the only thing they had was that the perpetrator was a women, and left no evidence but her own voice and that's the last person she had killed, she had been 'looking after'. Startling her out of her thoughts Gibbs spoke up.

"Abby, you can't keep doing this, you need to rest." Gibbs sighed; Abby had been staying up most nights trying to find any scrap of information. Still looking at her screen she mumbled back her answer.

"What I need is to find Tony; it's been three weeks already." Slowly, she turned around and hugged Gibbs.

"We'll find him abs." Gibbs stated, though he failed to keep a little disbelief out.

"But there's nothing Gibbs, nothing, no scrap, no trace, just gone, nothing." By now tears were streaming like rivers down her pale face. And she returned her vision to her computer screen that held the face of her best friend, of her Tony.

Gibbs bit back the urge to say he knew all that already, he couldn't show that he'd lost his own hope as well, not in front of Abby or the team. They were already struggling with it enough. The bull pen was so different without the fun-loving agent they knew.

After calming Abby down, Gibbs made his way to his personal conference room.

Lashing out at the hard metal walls of the suspended box he'd been spending quite some time in recently, but it only caused him pain now. No longer did it calm him; no longer could he stand the looks of all the other agents saying that no matter what the director said, he _should_ carry on looking for Tony. If he didn't then he failed in being Gibbs, failed in following his own code and morals. More importantly, failed Tony, and he didn't like it, not one little bit.

He'd gone over the interviews in his head to many times that he could recite them word for word, but none of it helped, he either hadn't interviewed the right person or the person with his agent was better than him. _Him_, the all-knowing boss in Tony's eyes. That thought caused a pain to ignite deep within him, Tony was relying on him to find him, to help him and Gibbs could do nothing. Nothing to help the man he thought of as a son.

Forcing himself to ignore the blurriness clouding his vision at the helplessness that clawed at him, he strode out of the elevator towards the remaining team members, hate with every fibre of his being that he was about to tell them to stop looking. He hadn't had the heart to tell Abby, not when he had caught her lost in the image of Tony.

Avoiding the eyes of the remaining two team members, Gibbs moved swiftly towards his desk. Looking longingly at the desk that seemed like a shrine, all Tony's items were still there, nothing have been moved since he had last been there, nothing. He wondered briefly whether this was healthy for them all but he didn't really care at the moment.

He jumped a little at the intrusion that his phone caused. Listening to the person on the other side he sighed and told them he'd be there. Finding both Ziva and McGee starting at him with slight betrayal in their eyes he barked out an order that caused them both to flinch.

"Grab your gear!"

"But Gibbs…Tony." a shocked McGee stammered while Ziva seethed in the corner of his eye.

"Has been missing for three weeks and we haven't got a shred of evidence as to where he is, while we still have our damn jobs to do, now get your gear before none of you have jobs to get back to!" And he felt a traitor for saying it so harshly. But what else could he do really?

Too shocked to answer back, both the agents moved practically on auto-pilot, grabbing their gear and heading out to the crime scene they had been called to.

x-X-x

For Tony, time had mashed together and blurred reality. He had no way of escape and had lost count of how many times he'd tried. All he did know was that Gibbs hadn't come, hadn't helped. Didn't care? But that's what she had said all along, she'd said that he wouldn't, said that she was the only one that would look after him. But he'd still held on, even after he'd been chained to the front of the house for days. Something she had said and done caused him to hope just a little. But the last of his regained hope was slithering away like sand through a person's fingers, moving away so fast he couldn't grasp it.

_2 weeks ago _

_A strong breeze jerked him awake, the cuffs still attached to his wrists dug in painfully. She hadn't been back here in a couple of days. He barely had the energy to stay awake much longer than a minute or two, the lashes on his back had become painful and exposed to the air and dirt it had caused them to become infected. Even during the warm light of the sun he shivered, he wouldn't last much longer at this rate. He could already feel liquid building in his lungs. _

_His body convulsed as it coughed a wet cough; breathing heavily was causing his back to flare up again. Any way he moved it hurt. Not taking any notice of his surrounds he didn't expect the slap that smashed his head into a wooden panel of the house. Clearing his bleary vision by blinking, he looked into the fierce eyes of his captor. _

"_How dare you!" she screamed and kicked him in the stomach. He didn't understand anything. Curling his hand around his now tender stomach he resisted the urge to be sick, needing to say something to calm her down. _

"_What… I…didn't do anything." He rasped, still breathing heavily. _

"_You told them where to find me at the hospital!" she kicked him again, this time breaking a few fingers on his right hand as it had been protecting his stomach from her assault. Biting back a cry of pain he raised his voice, but it failed to reach the same volume as hers. _

"_How could I, you've had me locked up here for the last few days." But he couldn't understand much over the blood rushing his ears, he tried to shout again but it only seemed like a whisper. "At…least they know who you are now, they will find you…its only a matter of time." His vision swam and he couldn't keep conscious anymore, as his hearing faded he heard a soft voice against his ear, and a delicate kiss upon his lips. _

"_That is where you're wrong, Tony. They didn't suspect a thing, they don't want to find you." He wanted to answer back but couldn't. As long as they were looking that is all that mattered, losing consciousness the pain faded. _

TBC

_The rest of his time with her will be revealed next chapter, I think I got a little carried away with the whump. Hope ya'll liked it and sorry for the wait. _


	8. No escape now!

_Really sorry for the long wait, enjoy this chapter. _

**Chapter 8- No escape now! **

Tony didn't remember much after her last attack, since then he'd been looked after by her. It was odd, she'd hurt him, only to make it all better. Over the last couple of days he had been doing what she was saying, partly in fear of another attack, partly so he lulled her into a false sense of security. But, this was nice, the attention and care shown to him, it was actually like she cared. Her small gentle touches almost had him forgiving her for what she had done in the first place. Maybe it had been something he'd done, I mean, he hadn't done anything but listen to her and nothing had happened so far.

The wounds on his back only bugged him if he moved too quickly since she had lathered on some kind of medicinal cream. Her touches were so light, couldn't possible hurt him, maybe, she had been telling the truth when she said he'd been attacked….

His memory was a train wreck if he was honest though; random images of being tied up or tied to the front of a house, even just feelings of abandonment and pain. It was all such a jumble he couldn't quite remember what in the world was going on.

Focusing on the here and now, he wondered why he wasn't in work, but then looking over him self and how he felt he wouldn't have been allowed in work anyway so he relaxed on the soft pillows of the bed he had been lain upon. The fact that he was currently free from restraints made the images in his head hard to believe. Maybe he'd been watching far too many movies, too much of an active imagination. He chuckled a little and looked around the room he was in. It didn't look like he was trapped, in fact, the bedroom door was open.

Getting up slowly he found that the nausea that had plagued him a couple of days ago seemed to have vanished, stretching a little his wounds only ached a little and he smiled a little for what seemed like the first time in a long while. Having no sense of time was oddly relaxing, nothing forcing him to move anywhere, no one to keep track of him.

Moving slowly across the tidy room he wondered what would happen if he did manage to escape from her, what would Gibbs think of him for not escaping sooner? But then…why hadn't Gibbs found him yet? Was what she had said really been true? Shaking his head he carried on forwards and found his new level of energy truly energising. He did have a life to get back to thank you very much a defiant voice spoke in the back of his mind. Even if Gibbs wouldn't have missed him, even if the rest of the team didn't, surely all the ladies would. Smiling in his oh so cocky way he straightened out the clothes he had found and scowled at the unfashionable look he now had.

Walking with a purpose out of the door he didn't notice Eve watching and waiting in the dim lighted corner of the living/dining room. The only thing he saw before a sharp pain hits his neck was a shadow. The next thing he knew was that he was on the floor and she was pinning him down. He tried valiantly to get out of her grip and started to shout at her, not in the slightest bit pleading though, not Tony DiNozzo. Instead, it was as if he had control, he'd had enough of her being in control the past…week? Or two. Just how long had been here?

"Get the hell off me!" he shouted as he struggled, not quite noticing the slight slur to the end of the words.

"You think you're so strong Tony," she paused and changed position a little so she was looking directly into his eyes, "then stop me." But he couldn't, whatever she had injected him with was slowing down his reflexes and his motor functions.

His vision suddenly started to become blurry, as if a fog had settled within the room. Knowing that wasn't possible he squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again but that only proved to hurt his head and eyes as she had turned a really strong light on from somewhere, it felt like it was burning his retinas out. The next thing he knew he was face down on a green sheet. Fear laced through him as he recognised what it was.

A hospital sheet, one that would be used in surgery in fact; just what the hell was she planning?

Trying futilely to move, his muscles only seize up more. No matter how much he wanted to move now, he couldn't and she knew it.

Taking her time she turned his head towards a metal tray with what looked like scalpels on it. He watched with a strange fascination as light seems to make them glimmer in the gloom of the room, the drugs racing through his system making the glimmer oddly hypnotising. Watching the light twinkle of the metal instruments he barely felt the shirt he had gained being taken off and the ghostly feel of her hands along his spine, he would have shivered if he could but his muscles had gone completely numb.

Rubber glove covered hands came into focus through the sparkly glimmer of the light; they picked up a scalpel from the tray and move out of focus again. He despondently wondered what she was going to do with it but gave up the thought thinking that she couldn't do anything much worse than she already had. I mean it wasn't like she wouldn't fix him up, _right?_

He only became unsure of her actions when he felt the coldness of the blade against his skin and then an uncomfortable pressure, which would have hurt like hell if his body wasn't already numbed to any kind of pain, in between his shoulder blades. Something that felt like warm liquid trickled slowly down his back, he only realised what it was when the white gloved hands came back, this time smeared with something crimson.

Blood.

And it could only be his.

But the panic that would have usually risen up within him had been quelled by the lack of pain. It only creeped him out when she or whoever it was gently caressed his face, leaving a trail of his own blood down his cheek. He honestly wondered why he couldn't find a reason to care all of a sudden, she must have put more than muscle relaxants in to the last mixture of what he had been injected with.

He focused his attention back to the tray and noticed what looked like a small metallic device, a matt silver colour. The white but crimson hands were back again this time picking up the small device. A few mere seconds later pins and needles shot through his extremities as he felt something being inserted into his back. Growing more fearful as the minutes trickled slowing by as pain and motor functions started to return he spoke drunkenly.

"W-w-what…. did you….. do?" he frowned as he started to feel each prick of the needle entering and leaving his skin; suturing up his back with whatever she had put there.

Her breath at his left ear sent shivers across his body as she spoke.

"Now I will know where you are all the time." She chuckled a little too, and then started to clear up the instruments she had used.

Watching from only one angle he could only see her feet travel across the floor of the room he hadn't left for a while. When the feet no longer moved before him and he heard the slam of the front door, thinking that he'd been left on his own he started to move. First on his hands and knees as each body part awakened slowly, then on his feet.

The funny thing was though, throughout the whole of whatever had just happened he hadn't missed the fact that the bedroom door had been open. _Again with the teasing_ he thought bitterly and he stumbled his way across the room. His back seemed to twinge at each odd movement and he had to rest a minute into his journey, shaking the effects of the 'operation' and drugs off he crossed the threshold of the door.

So far, so good he thought. That was when he started to feel something building up within him, as if telling him not to move away from a certain part of the house. The more he moved, the more it built up and the more he actually didn't want to move, she'd look after him when she returned. Wouldn't she?

_No, what the hell DiNozzo, get your ass moving. _

So he carried on; ignoring the small voice that had appeared a day or so ago, the one telling him just to let her do what she wanted as it was better for him, and moved towards the front door. Just as he was about to reach for the handle his blood turned to electric fire, his muscles spasmed and he dropped to the ground as his heart raced. It was almost as if he'd been electrocuted in his own skin. Which he could only guess that he had.

As a fog clouded his vision he heard the muffled sounds of two pairs of feet entering the house, he saw dark figures but couldn't make them out as the grey turned to darkness and any conscious thought left his mind.

Maybe the small voice that had gotten louder at his last attempt to escape was right.

Maybe it was better to just stay right here and do as she said.

TBC

_Hope you liked it. Sorry again for the long wait. _


	9. Game Over

_***** M-rated chapter- warnings of non-consensual actions, personal boundary issues, scenes of a sexual nature etc.*****_

_Okay everyone this chapter has been mostly planned from the start and the rest of the story has been built around this particular scene, if you do __**not**__ want to read this chapter than I am not forcing anyone, all you need to know is that Tony's own 'thing' is used against him as I think that that would most likely be one of the things that would break him down completely, that and the lack of control he has had throughout this story so far. Sorry this has taken long to update but this chapter needed to be taken time over as I have not written one like this yet. For those who think I have dragged this on long enough there is an end it sight of sorts but there is still plenty of story left to go. _

**Chapter 9- Game Over…**

Eve was getting annoyed at her precious, he just wasn't breaking, she could still see some hope in his eyes, and she knew that he forced himself to comply. He'd shown as much when he had tried to escape the last time. Slipping her cell phone out of her pocket she found the number she was looking for and started to ring it. Sighing, she turned and left the store she had bought some supplies from. Hearing the phone being picked up her friend answered.

"_Hello?" _

Eve's reply was simple; the other person would know what she meant. "It's time."

"_Very well"_ the voice replied, an almost joyous tone creeping into it.

Eve smiled slyly, she would have control tonight, whether he wanted to give it to her or not.

She walked leisurely towards the road leading to the house she was keeping him in; she'd had to keep the car out of the way seen as it was stolen in the first place. Upon arriving at the car she placed the items in the backseat of the car and started the drive back to the house.

By the time she would arrive there her friend should have arrived; there being two ways into the property. She couldn't help but giggle to herself. The house was so close but yet so far to the city that if Tony knew it would kill him. Well, if tonight's little event didn't break him she would have to kill him. She would hate to do it but she'd have no choice.

***

As Tony came round from his state of unconsciousness he almost gagged as Eve plunged her tongue into his mouth; fighting him for the control he couldn't stop her from taking. His eyes grew wide when he felt hands stripping him of his remaining clothes, and when he realised there was another person in the room, watching. He faintly remembered hearing two footsteps before his world went black earlier but he'd hoped it had been someone coming to his rescue. Hoped that he was going to get out of here.

Looking at the other person in the room, he watched her watch what was happening to him and it made him feel even more vulnerable and weak as he didn't have the energy to fight her off. He was a trained investigator and he couldn't do anything to stop Eve's frantic, demanding actions. He should have been able to stop her, he was stronger than this. Wasn't he? Wait…

Eve pulled away suddenly when he bit down on her tongue, he tasted her blood and almost gagged again; however, that only seemed to entice her more, passion flared in her eyes and he wanted to run, but found his body unresponsive to his thoughts. _Move damn it! Move!_ his thoughts screamed at him limbs.

"So you wanna play it that way, Tony boy." Cold, stark terror ran through he veins at the tone and tremors ran through his aching body.

Then two pairs of hands were on him, dragging him up. Nausea and fear made his mind spin wildly, it worked over time to find a way out. It no longer mattered to him how he escaped, he couldn't let her do this no matter what. He couldn't let her use him and let someone else watch it. When he spoke next; his voice was laced with fear but still held on to a little anger.

"Don't, anything but this." It may have sounded pleading but he didn't care and it wasn't as if he'd said please, so it didn't class as begging. Not Tony DiNozzo, DiNozzo's didn't beg or plead. _They didn't!_

Cloth was roughly shoved into his mouth; faces and arms crossing over his vision, blurring more the more his control was slipping. The cloth pinched at the corners of his mouth and stopped any more of his…demands. _Yeah, demands sounded better then pleas. _

_Just give it up, you're gonna lose. _A voice sneered in his ear; he didn't know where it had come from as more material had covered his vision. What he did know though, was that it wasn't just Eve touching him. Hands were everywhere on him, no matter which way he tried to force his muscles to move.

As fingers stroked his face gently, he tensed. He tried to fight as he realised he was now fully unclothed. However, he knew the fight was futile…but, he couldn't let this happen. He tried to fight them off but all he felt was the bed beneath his bare skin and he shuddered as he found himself tied to it. And he wondered how he'd not felt that particular thing happening, he was phasing out, techniques of distraction. That was bad, very bad. He should have also known by now that he was fighting a losing battle, that she had all the control, but a part of who he used to be was still there, even after all of the pain and threats.

But…but, his mind was shifting and he knew it. Everything was twisted together in skin tones and a fog that creeped over his eyes, even through the blind he could see bodies near him, next to him, on him.

Shifting from willing compliance, hoping that he could get out of this situation, to learned compliance and really identifying with his captor. After all, she only wanted to look after him, didn't she? She only hurt him when he'd done something wrong. So he must have deserved this too. Didn't he? _Didn't he?_

He couldn't remember. Couldn't remember how he got here, why he was still here. Why anything was what is was. His breathing hitched and came out in shuddering gasps, but they continued with their actions. Not stopping for anything now.

He had memories of her caring for him in the past, but not how he had gotten hurt in the first place and it scared him more than anyone could know. He knew a team was looking for him and they were federal agents, but they were merely a fantasy, weren't they? A dream? He didn't even know where he belonged anymore or whether they were after him because he had done something wrong.

Soft delicate hands moved over him, finding all his pleasure spots, leaving the main one for now. He could feel the tingle of pleasure rise up within him, but it felt wrong, dirty, tainted, he shouldn't feel it, he didn't _want_ to feel it! He needed to focus on remembering who he was; memories flashed pasted the void in front of his eyes as he felt a body settle upon him, straddling him. Bare skin came in contact with his, sending shivers up his spine. His mind raced and his struggles increased as they held his pleasure in their hands. Whose he didn't know, and it scared him. His mind screamed out more, hoping they'd hear him and stop. _Stop it, stop it, stop it._ His mind grew frantic with the mantra. He didn't care that he didn't sound like Tony anymore just as long as they stopped.

But they never did.

The memories he tried to remember were racing faster as if to keep his mind away from what he was feeling but it didn't work well enough and he neared the end of the cliff she was pushing him over. He had to find something, anything to distract him from his own body's betrayal. One of them, both of them, he didn't know; kissed and teased her way around his body, they could hurt him with the control they had, but he still struggled, tried to cling to the part of him that he needed to escape their control. But if he lost that part he'd never escape her clutches.

One of them shifted into him; it felt dirty, it was wrong, he didn't want this. But his body was out of his control and he hated it but…but they were being oh so gentle in her movements, increasing her own pleasure and his. New movements forced him deeper inside of the one on top of him, where he didn't want to go. He tired to picture what he knew, he remembered movies, lines, scenes, _anything_ as her movements became more heated. He wanted, no, needed it to stop, his mind couldn't hold on for any longer, but his body was enjoying it without his permission. A single strained tear escaped his eyes as the end got closer. As he lost the only bit of control he had left.

She reached her end but the touching and stroking still continued and he fell from the cliff's edge. Nothing to hold on to on the way down, the memories he'd tried to grasp to keep in control faded into the darkness creeping in along with his mind, the only place it was now safe. The darkness came and he couldn't feel anything, he no longer associated his body with his thoughts, it had betrayed him. Disassociation was bad and he knew it but he didn't care, he had nothing left. Only the part of his mind needed for his body to function stayed, the shift was complete. She'd won and he couldn't have stopped it.

His mind receded further away from the part that needed to be wanted by her, just like he had wanted to be needed by his team in the past, the part that told his body to listen to what she said so he and the team wouldn't get hurt. With the final act complete; the scared, complacent part of his mind blacked out and would deal with what was to come tomorrow, but knowing that she would be looking after him made him feel safe so he slept. But not before the touching stop and soft words were whispered in his ears.

"_My precious"_

TBC

_Oh dear, did I go too far with this. For those of you who did read this let me know what you thought. Please review!!_


	10. Bittersweet Rescue

_I would like to thank everyone for the reviews so far and especially the previous chapter. Also I'd like to thank Tam who reminded me that I listed this story as a Tony/Gibbs father/Son type and seemed to have strayed away from that, it was not my original intention to do this but I think I got carried away with the Tony torture these last few chapters. But alas we get back to the team in this chapter and it will eventually be a father/son type story as listed I am getting there. Anyway enjoy this chapter. _

**Chapter 10 - Bittersweet Rescue**

While Tony had been missing special agent Gibbs had flat out refused to give into the directors orders of getting a temporary agent to help them. _Hell No!_ That would give the impression that they thought Tony wasn't coming back, that they weren't ever going to find him.

Each and every time the phone on his desk rung he held on to the small amount of hope he had left, hoping that it would be someone telling him where his agent was, someone who had seen him even. _Anything._ And each time it was nothing or another case popped up he would slam the phone back down; cursing it for not giving him what he wanted. They were investigators; they found things, evidence, and people for a living for Christ's sake! Why couldn't they find their own damn agent!

He knew his remaining agents were sending looks of worry his way; oh he knew he was getting obsessive like he had with Ari, but he didn't care as long as he found his agent and the team was balanced again. The team without Tony was like watching one of his movies with out hearing the words, it was just wrong. It had no meaning without words, just like their jobs had ceased to have meaning after the first month.

Into the second month and the pressure from the director had been getting on Gibbs' last nerve. If he thought he needed another person he would ask for one! He didn't need any other agent, he only wanted one but that was impossible and he knew it. Time seemed to trickle slowly by without the usual exuberant and light-hearted chatter between the team. A kind of background noise he had grown to like and now it was gone, everything was off kilter.

Now, with the time creeping into the third month; it was still wrong but they were slowly and painfully moving forward….without Tony and that was…to them…inexcusable. What gave them the right to give up on one of their own so fast? But then statistics dictated that they should have given up long before now. Told them that he would most likely be dead by now; even if he was an agent of a federal agency, and _that_ would only give you so much leeway.

They had all taken to going over the case in their spare time, together and separately. Reading and testing the evidence again and again until they knew it off by heart and could practically recite the whole thing. But it didn't help, they really didn't have _anything_. Even the body they had found with _'My Precious'_ carved into it had come up with nothing other than the person that had done it had been medically trained.

Abby's pleading with Gibbs had stopped, but the way her eyes still strayed towards Tony's desk each time she came up to the bullpen made him want to cause Tony's captor so much pain and suffering. She had started playing her music again but it hadn't been to the same deafening volume as it usually was and should have been. However, this time, the music was being played purely for distraction; not because she enjoyed it.

Gibbs knew, yes, _knew_ that Tony was alive somewhere. Even amidst all the doubtful looks with each passing day, all the memories of past cases of similar situations, even amidst each failure when they thought they'd had something and it had turned out to be nothing or simply another false flicker of hope.

But Gibbs believed it enough to call in a few favours in between cases; he refused to stop the search. Tony was _his_ agent and nobody messed with his family. When one of his contacts had heard something about 5 weeks ago they'd all hoped that it would be over. It hadn't. They'd found nothing but an old abandoned and long deserted house on the outskirts of the city.

The same thing had happened on a few occasions, they'd hope for a couple of hours that Tony would be safely with them soon, only to have the hope obliterated into tiny pieces; like the fragments of the numerous phones he had thrown against the walls in effort to find his agent…ahh hell he's practically his son.

However, Gibbs no longer felt it was right to tell the team if he'd heard anything; to give them hope for it to be continuously stripped away from them. He couldn't see the look of defeat and loss on their faces anymore. It was like seeing his failure staring back at him and everyday was a day longer then Tony needed to be away from the team, and a day longer than the team could bear. Gibbs was forced out of his thoughts by the ringing of his cell.

"Gibbs!"

"Special Agent Gibbs?" Asked a timid female voice. In the background though he thought he heard grunts of pain.

"Yes, who is this?"

"Ann, erm, y-you interviewed me about two or so months ago." Gibbs knew the name immediately. And knew that this was related to Tony, he was sure of it, it had to be. _Didn't it?_

"What can I do for you?" She was quiet for a moment and then spoke all at once as if unsure of whether to tell him or not.

"I know where your agent is."

He froze, anything they'd done had gone nowhere, found nothing. His contacts, Ziva's contacts, everything and everyone they knew. Now, here was someone, one person, telling them what they wanted to hear. It was almost too good to be true…wait, was it just_ too_ good to be true? His investigator mind told him it was a lie, that it was false; that he was so much in denial of losing his agent that his mind was telling him all the things he _wanted_ to hear.

"How do you know it's our Agent?" Two heads snapped up at the question, hope shining in their eyes but not showing on their faces, they'd been in this situation before.

Thuds were heard in the background now, and the sounds were definitely ones of pain. With the sounds clear Gibbs' heart sped up in anticipation.

"It does not matter. You must get here now! Before she decides to kill him! You do not have much time." Ann's voice had descended in to further panic as the conversation had gone on and this worried Gibbs to no end. What was happening for her to become more agitated?

"Where?" Gibbs had decided that now wasn't the time to take a chance and not go an at least follow this lead, his gut was telling him that he needed to do this, no matter what they may find. It could be their only chance.

Signalling Ziva and McGee to grab their gear, he wrote down the address that Ann had given him, ripped the paper off the note pad and they all entered the elevator. McGee had already called Ducky by the time they met at the car. Gibbs, McGee, Ziva and Ducky all hoped that it wasn't too late to save their friend. They also hoped Ducky wouldn't be needed.

The paper work lay forgotten and strewn across their desks at the office as the four companions travelled together towards a place just out side of the city. Their journey remained silent as they were all lost in thought, wondering whether or not this moment could have come sooner, if only they had tried harder to find him.

***

Once they were at the address Ducky was asked to stay behind and under no circumstances was he to enter until the place had been cleared. They would shout when they needed him. While the others were surrounding the small building Ducky checked his bag to make sure he had brought everything that he might have needed if they were to find Anthony alive.

As they broke down the door to the rickety wooden house, the sight they were greeted with was unexpected to say the least and even anti-climatic. Evelyn lay peacefully on the floor of the open plan kitchen/living area, eyes looking serenely upwards as if at something only she could see. A soft giggle could be heard as they moved closer; also as they stepped closer, they noticed splatters of blood on her hands and saw no sign of Ann. Gibbs' gut churned at the outcome that suggested for his agent. Had they been too late?

Aiming their weapons at her they searched around, looking for Tony. When Eve began to sit up their weapons followed her every move. The look on her face scared them, it was beyond happy, beyond glee, beyond satisfaction even. It was complete and utter elation with a bit of menace to top things off.

Hearing no other noise in the small house they feared the worse. Gibbs noticed a door that had been left ajar, moving towards it his steps became heavy and he couldn't help but feel scared about what he would find. The giggling which hadn't been stifled when they had arrived and cleared the first room stopped, and a controlled voice broke Gibbs concentration on the door ahead of him.

"He won't leave." Eve stated simply.

"The hell he won't" Gibbs didn't believe for a second that Tony would actually want to stay here, no, not when his team had come to rescue him. Or, that this woman had broken his agent.

She waved her hand towards the door as she spoke. "Go. See for yourself. He's been free from restraints for over a week now."

Gibbs froze. That just didn't sit right and he didn't even have to look at Ziva and McGee to see their scepticism on that subject. Tony was a trained federal Agent; they were trained to pretty much everything. Diversion, compliance just to make them seem they have control, negotiation, everything and Tony even had his own nature that worked in his favour. She couldn't have, _could she?_ They wondered briefly.

"We'll see." Gibbs muttered and started moving towards the door again.

"I wouldn't bet on it. I mean, YOU! HIS TEAM! Hadn't saved him after almost three months. Just who else was he suppose to believe."

Laughing fully now her response to his muttered words had stuttered a little but held such a disturbing certainty that he could feel his fear of not knowing what had happened creeping and crawling within him. He wanted to hope that it wasn't real, that it was just to bug him, that it was all a part of her twisted imagination. Even that maybe, just maybe Tony had made her believe that herself, that that was the reason Tony hadn't come out of the room yet. Maybe he was still acting. Maybe he would wear that oh so annoying smile that said 'gotcha'.

But he also knew it was too many maybes and it made his blood boil. Forcing his way into the room he quickly scanned the room, making sure nobody else could pop up and surprise them. His eyes then scanned in more detail; there was a figure of a man sitting on the edge of an unmade bed.

As Gibbs got closer he wasn't sure whether or not to say anything or how to. He had no idea what had been done to his agent over the amount of time he'd been missing. What he could see from where he was standing though was that the man, if it was his agent, had lost a lot of weight. The over worn clothes seemed to hang off the figures frame and the hair scruffier than usual, but it was Tony, their Tony, they'd finally found him. Unsure what to do he settled for what he knew.

"DiNozzo!" he barked. The figure flinched but Gibbs brushed it off as being surprised, it couldn't be anything else; it wasn't possible.

But when Tony didn't do anything else but stare down at the floor, which is where his vision had been anyway, he became worried for his agent's state of mind.

McGee entered the room and Gibbs shoed him away but mouthed to him to get Ducky in here. McGee had seen the figure and looked confused but disappeared to get the doctor.

Gibbs moved closer to his agent, whishing that he would just turn around and see him, just to prove that he was actually there. Maybe, that was why he'd barely responded; maybe, he didn't believe he was being rescued. He tried a different approach this time.

"Tony?" he asked softly in a voice he usually used for scared victims. To Gibbs' surprise even this tone of voice got a negative reaction out of his agent.

Tony tensed and he couldn't hide the shudder that coursed through his entire body, a soft tone meant kindness and…and…Gibbs spoke again. But it couldn't be Gibbs, could it? The only person who wanted him was Eve and maybe her friend. Gibbs was his boss but not now, he'd been away for far too long and most likely replaced. Eve wouldn't be happy if he left though, what reason did he have to leave anyway? Maybe Gibbs was a figment of his old imagination. But then Gibbs was kneeling in front of him and Tony wasn't sure of anything.

Even now Gibbs had eye contact with his agent he could see this wasn't going to be easy. There was a hell of a lot missing from the bleak and confused look. Where was Tony's defiance, Tony's spark? Where was his agent? What had been done to him? Millions of questions were racing through his mind.

"Jethro?" Ducky asked quietly as he entered, sensing the mood of the room. Ducky was surprised at the scene. Usually Anthony would be joking, pretending nothing was wrong, saying his usual 'I'm fine' but there was nothing, and it was disconcerting.

Ducky tried to reach for Tony but he flinched back in fear, normally Tony wouldn't flinch, oh he'd complain a whole lot but not flinch away from the touch. Neither of them missed the wince on Tony's exhausted face as he moved and they shared a look of concern.

"Tony? We just want to help, okay?" Gibbs placed his hand on Tony's slightly bloody one, where the blood had come from however was yet to be seen. Again Tony flinched but he looked Gibbs in the eye and Gibbs almost jumped for joy at the small amount of recognition in them. Tony relaxed but only a fraction, he nodded but again it was only a fraction.

Tony started to rise from his position, Ducky and Gibbs decided to let Tony go on his own speed at the moment. However as soon as Tony swayed they caught each arm and started leading him along and out of the room.

When they entered the main room of the house Tony wondered where Eve was, maybe she was already waiting somewhere else for him and his 'friends' were taking him to where she was.

Both Ziva and McGee had been shocked to see there friend leave the room, his hands shaking a little, they weren't used to seeing Tony so…well…not Tony. They had been stupidly hoping that he'd still been Tony, even after all this time. They now realised how stupid they'd truly been.

They were happy that they had finally found him but it was no where near what they wanted and they almost whished they hadn't of found him, well, not like this anyway, not like the broken shell of a man they once knew who was standing before them. It wasn't for their sake though, it was for his. They weren't at all sure what they could do for him.

Knowing that Eve was cuffed and locked inside a patrol car they had called and on her way to the local lock up made them feel a little better. They had the person who had hurt their friend. They were again shocked when a raspy voice broke the silence that had descended in the room.

"S-s-stop" The strangled word coming from their friend caused them to do exactly that as they helped him towards the front door, it had been the first time he'd spoken since they got there. Realising the slight panic appearing in his eyes but not the reason, they tried to placate the struggling agent but continued on.

"It's okay Tony, you're safe now." Ziva soothed but he flinched away from her calming touch, sending him past the threshold for the chip inside him. His body shook with stronger tremors than had started a minute ago, both Ducky and Gibbs weren't fast enough as their friend dropped limply to the floor…

TBC

_What will they do now, how are they going to get Tony out of there with that chip in him. Hope you all liked it and the length and please review!_


	11. A Silent Shadow

_I can't actually believe that I have left you all hanging sooo long for this chapter. Well here it finally is. Enjoy…._

**Chapter 11- A Silent Shadow **

Darkness.

Empty. Cold and Dark.

But it was safer there than in a reality that he no longer recognised.

Sure, he thought that he'd seen the team, the one from his nicer dreams, the one who always had his back. Gibbs. The one who always said what he meant and one who had made him feel safe when he had been scared in the past. He remembered blue lights and a strong ex-marine voice calming him.

But that was before he'd gotten use to the dark, the silence. Before the dark had become a silent friend; always engulfing him in its arms when his mind couldn't take anymore.

But it was fading and Tony knew that he was returning to consciousness, no matter how much it felt safer to stay where he'd been. Waking up meant remembering what he'd hoped for such a long time to be true; the hallucinations of the team who had come to rescue him. He found that he didn't want to give up on that hope just yet so he clung to the darkness for all he was worth.

Except, the hard ex-marine's voice was there, right next to him.

"DiNozzo, Tony, open your eyes." He wanted to move away but the pain in his body stopped him from even drifting back into darkness. He was just lying on the cold ground, not having the energy to move.

"Open your eyes." This time the voice was worried and stern, that was when Tony realised that he hadn't done what he was told. _That_ always ended badly. Maybe, if he did as he was told then he could go back to the dark.

When he did half open his eyes, he wanted to shout that what he saw wasn't real, but a flash of memory saw him in _that_ bedroom and Gibbs kneeling in front of him, his eyes pleading with him that it wasn't an illusion. He knew that that look shouldn't have been there then so he looked long and hard around the room, trying to figure out not how they were here now, but, _why?_

_Why after so long? _He knew that he was long past being helpful to them now.

He hadn't exactly been helpful to Ann the last time he'd seen her. Before images could drag him back to what had happened a worried voice broke through.

"Anthony, can you hear me?" The accent was familiar, Ducky? Looking from his position on the floor he saw that it was in fact, Ducky. Tony nodded, but only because they were looking at him like they were. He didn't quite know what the look was but he knew that he didn't like it. It seemed to be the right move when Ducky's strained expression lifted a little.

x-X-x

Gibbs was watching the interactions closely; after they had seen Tony go down they had immediately moved him from the threshold of the door and had laid him flat on the ground, elevating his head a little, and so that they weren't moving him too much.

McGee and Ziva had been sweeping the house and collecting evidence as Ducky and Gibbs had tended to Tony. They couldn't help but be pleased that they had something else to concentrate on rather then their ailing friend.

Ducky himself was wondering what had caused the poor boy to collapse like he did and hoped that Anthony would be able to tell them; because, by the looks of it, they couldn't move him until they figured out what was wrong.

Ducky was careful while examining Tony, trying not to disturb the younger man too much. What Ducky could see on the outside didn't seem promising though; bruises littered what could be seen of Tony's arms and could be seen around his neck, as if he'd been strangled and more than once by the different shades of blues, yellows, and greens. His hair was longer then he usually had it but had obviously been cut as it was no where near the length you would expect after three months. His face was relatively unscathed apart from the very pale complexion of his skin.

"He gonna be okay, Duck?" Only someone who knew Gibbs would have detected the hidden concern in his stern tone.

Ducky's lack of an answer only worried Gibbs more, Ducky was always one for having a story to tell, to have silence mean that there was something seriously wrong, but then nothing had been normal recently.

Before anything more could be said, Tony moved slightly in his sleep and Gibbs was immediately by his agent's side, as was Ducky.

Even though Gibbs encouraged the younger Agent to open his eyes, Ducky noticed that Tony had tensed and that he was trying not to waken at all. Tony seemed to flinch as much as he could when Gibbs had practically ordered him to open his eyes.

Their worry didn't dissipate even a fraction as Tony opened weary eyes. There seemed to be an absolute blankness about them that made both Ducky and Gibbs breathe a sharp breath. Though, that didn't worry them half as much as the shadow that seemed to linger behind the blankness.

A strained silence seemed to encompass the room now that Tony had reacted to them.

Nobody knew quite what to ask.

Questions circulated around everyone's heads, not settling on a specific one.

That was, until Ducky voiced a fear that they were all trying not to think about.

"Jethro, we need to get Anthony to a hospital." A small blood trail that seemed to have followed Tony as he'd moved didn't go unnoticed

Nobody missed the way Ducky was now looking it nor how Tony, who had pushed himself up and leant against the nearest wall, seemed to tense at the notion.

"C..c..can't" Tony's voice was a ragged whisper.

"And why the hell not?" Questioned Gibbs, remembering the words of the demented women now sitting a car; he'd seen the effects the last time of moving Tony out of the house but he needed answers now so Tony could get help.

Tony seemed to freeze up; Ducky and the team watched in horrid fascination as Gibbs closed the distance between himself and their friend. To those that didn't know Gibbs the stance would seem threatening, to those that did however, knew that he was scared for his Agent. Gibbs hadn't missed the blood either.

And he'd be damned if he was going to lose his Agent now they'd found him.

To their surprise Tony started to remove his shirt, revealing a mass of bruising covering his chest and stomach. He then turned around; exposing gashes that seemed to have been made with a whip, some were old and mostly healed, some more recent and still in the process of scabbing over.

However, _that_ was not all.

Ducky noticed a precise cut when he saw one; Tony had a 3 inch incision in between his shoulder blades, again it seemed mostly healed, as if it had been done a while ago. Tony's raspy voice spoke again.

"Can't." Though it lacked any emotion whatsoever.

This caused Gibbs to curse, which in turn, caused Tony to flinch away from them a little more.

Maybe it wasn't what he had first thought, and maybe it really was because his Agent really _couldn't_ leave, rather than not wanting to. He could hope, _right?_

Though, something was still bothering him about the shadow that still lingered within his Agent, and none of them were sure what it meant.

Where had the blood come from that they'd seen before? Where was Ann? These were just some of the questions going around in all of the Agents' and ME's minds.

Something else Ducky had noticed, were scars of a different nature, ones that seemed to cross over the original incision, slightly diagonal, as if the younger man had been trying to get at something.

"Anthony?" Ducky question but wait until the man was looking at him. "Did she put something in you?" Though it was an obvious question, he hoped that the younger man could tell him what it was.

"A chip…I tried to….couldn't." Tony looked down at his lap, while having turned back around so he could lean against the wall again, not sure quite what to do now.

A door slamming in the silence that followed that statement shook them all out of their thoughts on the matter. Looking around Gibbs noticed that Ziva was the one who had left.

He smiled at the thought that popped up in his mind. Ziva was very good at 'persuading' people to give her what she wanted and hoped that Eve wasn't going to be any different.

It may take a while to get to and from the local PD but he was sure that Ziva would get something before drastic actions would have to be taken.

Ducky, knowing only one other way to get their Agent out of there, hoped beyond anything that it would not come to that.

TBC

_I know it's a short chapter but I do have an idea on where to go with this one now and what is going to happen next with Ziva and how are they going to get Tony out of there, also what did become of Ann…you will have to wait and see. Please review!_


	12. Calm Before The Storm

_Well, i made a right mess of posting this chapter before, here is the actual chapter...enjoy!_

**Chapter 12 **

"Did you get anything from her?" Gibbs asked Ziva over the phone an hour or so later.

"No." Was the short clipped answer, if Ziva couldn't get anything, Gibbs doubted anyone else could.

Cursing, Gibbs disconnected the call and turned back towards the rest of the team.

Ducky had been watching patiently while Gibbs had been on the phone, the curse from his friend's lips gave Ducky a horribly cold feeling in the pit of his stomach.

He was hoping he wouldn't have to try and convince Tony that they would have to take the chip out themselves.

Tony's condition hadn't changed, except for Tony no longer wanting to look at any of them, which in its self was odd. Usually, after finding a beaten Tony after other missions he'd have at least a half decent smile on his face, even if it was a guarded, exhausted one.

Here, however, they seemed to be right in the middle of a strained standoff.

Having showed most of what she had done to him, Tony had proceeded to put his shirt back on, even with Ducky's protests. Tony wouldn't let any of them near him, he was skittish and looking around as if expecting her to come back.

None of them knew where to place themselves, anytime they did get close to Tony he would tense up then wince in pain at the movement. They needed to get him out but so far that didn't seem possible, not without removing the damn chip themselves.

And neither of the Agent's in the room had the heart to do it; Tony had been through enough as far as they were concerned.

A tense silence loomed around them all, Tony was wavering, eyelids drooping with exhaustion; that was, until, Gibbs decided to speak up.

"Tony?" Yet still Tony wouldn't look him in the eye so he settled for the small head movement that signalled he was at least listening.

"Did she have a control for the chip?" Tony merely nodded then stopped listening; looking distractedly around the room, as if trying to remember what was going on by taking everything in again, even though he hadn't moved a muscle.

Something was missing, Tony could feel it. Yes, he was confused and jumpy but lucid thoughts still bounced around his head. Then, Gibbs' voice was back disturbing him again.

"Tony?" He tried to remember what he'd been asked and remembered something about a control of some sort. And he remembered her breaking something weeks ago. But his words came out quiet and apprehensive, and not quite coherent.

"She said that would happen if I didn't listen. Little tiny shards of metal, broken, and then thrown away." Tony paused for a moment and stared at something beyond Gibbs.

"Just like Ann." The stare and the voice sent shivers around the room. Then Tony simply blinked, as if he hadn't said anything out of the ordinary and looked towards the team.

Then Tony's eyes glazed over as if remembering something.

x-X-x

_Eve hovered over Ann maliciously with a knife in hand._

_Ann had just finished on the phone when it was knocked out of her hand with a forceful punch from Eve, sending Ann sprawling to the floor._

_The glint of murderous rage in her calm eyes made Tony look away from her, he knew something bad was about to happen, he could feel it._

_He got up slowly, against protesting injuries, hoping that Eve wouldn't notice him move._

_Too late._

_The next thing Tony knew was a slash of pain to his back as she spun around behind him and had the knife against his throat, the knife cutting lightly into him._

_It took a moment before he realised that he was now on the floor and watching Eve walk up to Ann who was still unconscious. _

_Though not for long as Tony watched Eve stalk up to her former friend, crouch down and with the knife she had just cut Tony with, stab right through Ann's hand, pinning her to the ground she lay upon._

_Ann screamed a horrid, agonising scream._

_Well that was one way to wake someone up Tony thought and then looked away from the scene before him. He couldn't watch the person who had helped him be murdered right in front of him when he couldn't do anything about it._

_Screams chased the darkness in his vision as he kept his eyes shut._

_Then the screams simply stopped._

_And Tony made the mistake of looking towards the shocking scene. _

_How someone could do that to someone else was beyond him._

x-X-x

McGee had paled on the words and looked around to see whether anything could prove what Tony had just said.

He really hoped that he wouldn't.

It was too gruesome to think about, though the look in Tony's eyes told the story of horror that had occurred within this house.

And from the looks that Gibbs and Ducky were sharing it was about to get a whole lot worse for Tony.

"Anthony," Tony startled a little at the soft voice but inclined his head towards the doctor speaking his name, "we need to get the chip out."

Tony seemed interested but didn't attempt to move towards them.

Gibbs had left this part to Ducky, knowing that his own emotions wouldn't allow for the calming tone Ducky was speaking in.

Even Ducky's actions seemed awkward and unpractised now; nothing was right about what they needed to do now.

"Tony, do you understand what we are saying." Things were desperate if even Ducky was using Tony's preferred name. It seemed like a strange question to ask someone who was as lucid as Tony seemed but they had no idea of his mental state at the moment.

Tony, in response, looked deep in Ducky's eyes, the first time he'd done so in the past couple of hours and nodded. The elder man though, was shocked at the bleakness staring back at him. He questioned whether Tony really understood and was surprised when he laid himself down and removed his shirt again.

Silence descended around the room.

They all knew that this had to be done without medication.

And strangely, Tony seemed to be the calmest there, lying silently on the ground.

Something was definitely wrong here...

_TBC_

_Again I know it's a short chapter, but I'm still working on it. Enjoy. _


	13. Stationary

_Well, now that I have finished my placement at the hospital then I should be able to write more of most of my stories, I have the next, and probably the last chapter of 'Best forgotten' part written at the moment… but this story still has a ways to go yet so please enjoy… _

**Chapter 13- Stationary**

Everything was wrong about what was happening and what she'd heard.

Nothing made sense as Abby slowly walked towards them all in the waiting room.

White walls were closing in as if singling the team out, getting smaller the closer she got. People were milling around doing their duties but the noise was just in the background.

Usually, Gibbs would be pacing in worry, but a mask of calm up on a tired face. Ducky would be with the doctors treating whoever of the team had been hurt at the time, though it usually was Tony. Timmy would be full of worry along with Ziva but they would both fidget with something to keep them occupied, waiting to hear news about their partner.

But everyone was stationary and silent.

No pacing, no fidgeting, and Ducky wasn't back with the doctors to see how Tony was.

And the looks they were sharing were starting to scare her more than she had ever been before when waiting to hear about a friend. One who she thought of as a brother.

"Gibbs?" Her voice wavered, no sign of squealing this time.

x-x-x

_Damn. _

She wasn't meant to be here yet, Gibbs thought. It would have been better for her to stay away; he knew what he had to say so far was going to kill her.

Why couldn't she have waited until they knew more, until they at least had some good news?

He looked towards Ducky, hoping that he'd stopped feeling so guilty about what had needed to have been done.

He knew he was keeping Abby waiting for an answer; he just had no idea what to say.

And by the looks of the rest of his team, neither did they.

On the way over they'd received a phone call from the team that had been left behind to process, they'd found Ann. Exactly like Tony had said. The team obviously couldn't investigate themselves because they were too close to it, and to be frank they felt that their friend needed them more, but that didn't mean they were out of the loop completely.

However, that wasn't the most disturbing thing.

Not by a long shot.

x-x-x

"Gibbs? What's going on?" She was terrified now, never had she seen the team like it is now, not since Kate.

_Oh god, please don't let it be that. _

Biting her tongue, she tried to keep her emotions off her face but knew that she couldn't. By the looks of it they didn't need it at the moment.

McGee and Ziva moved up one seat each and made a space Abby between them and Ducky and Gibbs. She took the seat without a word knowing that they had just indirectly let her know that it was bad.

Really bad.

Abby didn't know what was worse; the silence or the change from routine.

Gibbs stood in front of her then bent down so he was eye level with her, she heard his knees pop, but it didn't look like he even felt it.

"Abby, you need to know that it's still early, we don't know much yet, okay?" She nodded slowly, wondering why he felt the need to pin point that.

"When we got there he wouldn't leave the house she had him in-"

"Wouldn't leave? Why not?" If Tony was anything it was resilient, and wouldn't do something only if he physically couldn't.

"She placed a chip inside him that shocked him every time he tried to leave."

Abby's eyes lit up like fire. That bitch, she fumed silently.

"So you found and way to turn it off right, so you could get him to hospital…or you forced her to tell you how, right?"

Gibbs merely just continued to stare at her, not looking around at the team because he couldn't see the guilt that lingered there, Abby wouldn't like the next part. She hated it when anyone got hurt, but for them to have caused some of that pain, it would anger her beyond words at what they had been forced to do, not at them.

"You didn't?" Abby asked them all, looking at them in turn. Their faces told her all she needed to know.

"Abby, we had to; it was the only way we could get him out of that place."

"Was he at least asleep or unconscious?" Abby could only plead with them now. It was bad enough that he had had one put in him in the first place, but to have it taken out by people that cared for him was horrible. Anything more was just cruel.

The way the silence wrapped around her told her that he wasn't. _Oh god. _

Abby's hand trembled as she raised it to her mouth, trying not scream at it all. This was hell and she couldn't even begin to imagine how Tony was. Breathing deeply and clawing away the tears building in her eyes she began to speak, no matter how much it wavered.

"When can we see him, have the doctors been out yet, is he going to be okay?"

But none of them could even begin to answer her questions.

As if by coincidence a Doctor appeared before them, Gibbs stood tall in a stance protecting the rest of the team.

"Family and friends of Mr DiNozzo?" The tall doctor asked, her blue eyes held worry.

"My name is Dr Amanda Harrison." She introduced her self. "Is there a name that Mr DiNozzo prefers?" She asked kindly.

"It's Agent DiNozzo and he prefers to be called Tony." Gibbs spoke up and gently corrected her; he was already starting to like this doctor, they didn't always ask questions like what does the patient like to be called.

"H-How is he?" Abby asked quietly.

The Doctor faltered for a fraction of a second, she hadn't seen as case like this before, sure she had had her fair share of agents and people beaten for a prolonged amount of times but this was the worst she'd seen in a while.

"Well, he's not quite out of the woods yet, a few of the smaller open wounds to his back have started getting infected, but we have him on antibiotics to clear that up. There is evidence of multiply broken bones, some having fully healed, and some half way there, which along with the bruises covering his body will make it painful for him to move when he wakes." She tired to keep it a little clinical so she wouldn't get attached but not too much as it was best not to alienate the friends and family of her patients.

"There are markings on his wrists and ankles that seem to show that he had been tied down at some point and scars from being whipped." They all tried to bite their tongues as they knew she wasn't finished yet.

"However, there is one thing that is a mystery to me. The cut to his upper back seems surgical and while I was cleaning the area noticed that the muscle and tissue had been singed as if by something really hot."

Ducky stepped up to explain.

"The person that held him implanted a chip into him, somewhere he couldn't reach, no matter how much he tried. It sent an electrical current through his system stopping from leaving the house he was in. And being the man he is we know that he would have tried umpteen times."

"Thank you …"

"Doctor Mallard, but you may call me Ducky, my dear." Amanda smiled a little in spite of the situation these people had been thrown into, they seemed like they genuinely cared for her patient.

Everyone else briefly introduced themselves while they were getting their thoughts together.

Amanda was horrified by what she had been told; there was only so much a person's body could take.

"Well, thank you Ducky, that also explains the other scars around the site as well."

"What other scars do you mean?" Abby piped up looking nervous. "Surely he wouldn't try to get it out himself, right?"

"I'm afraid so, my dear." Ducky placed and calming hand on Abby's shoulders as her lip trembled.

"When can we see him?" McGee questioned having not spoken very much at all since arriving at the hospital; he needed to know if his friend was going to be okay.

"Well, I'd prefer it if we'd been able to wake him, maybe hearing a friendly voice would help. But only one at a time."

"Wait, you've not been able to wake him?" Abby was alarmed. "That should have been the first thing you said, not trying to be our friend first!"

"Abigail, she was trying to ascertain what had happened to see if it was linked. It's quite common not to wake if you hear unfamiliar voices when you've been held captive for so long. The brain has a strange way of handling certain situations."

Amanda nodded her thanks to the elderly ME.

"Who wants to go first?" She asked.

Abby calmed down slightly and backed away from the doctor.

Gibbs followed the Doctor to the room that held their agent.

_TBC_

_This seemed like a good place for a break….I know it's a slow chapter but the next should be here soon._


	14. Grasping At Straws

_Gosh, I know it's been awhile for this one but here is the next chapter, I hope you all like it._

**Chapter 14**

After Gibbs had entered the room holding his agent it had been four days and thirteen minutes before he had even showed a sign of waking.

The fever had ravaged his body, causing it to tremble and fit much to Gibbs' horror; the antibiotics they had had him on were now finished and his temperature was now normal.

Now, it had been two days, three hours and sixteen minutes since Tony had woken up.

And they had spoken to every doctor in this damned hospital.

But none of them could explain why Tony hadn't spoken to them for them two days, three hours and six...no seventeen minutes now.

Nor had they been able to explain Tony's reaction to women, even the ones on his team who he knew.

To say Tony was skittish when he saw them would have been a massive understatement, he was down right terrified of them and without him speaking to them about it since he had woken up, it would seem that they would never know fully why.

Which is what lead to Gibbs sitting by his Agent's bed; 6 days, three hours and thirty minutes after he had stepped through the doors with the kind doctor, looking at the man he thought of as his son, his heart aching to be able to do something to take the blank look away from his eyes.

The fever had broken hours ago and yet still the younger man's eyes were lost to them all. And Gibbs didn't like what that signified, not at all.

Other Agents had been and gone, wishing their friend or fellow colleague well, and yet still all Tony did was stare at them or some place in front of him where nothing was or had been, just looking nowhere.

Sometimes Gibbs thought that Tony was listening to them and just not answering him and it pissed him off to no end but then he knew that Tony wouldn't do something like that, not to his team. There was something else wrong and Gibbs needed to find out and soon before the doctors had no other choice to move him to the psych ward of the hospital.

Getting to find the Doctor, Gibbs took a quick look at Tony; he seemed to be sleeping peacefully for once, though he doubted it would last that long. Gibbs moved quietly out of the room to track down Tony's Doctor.

It didn't take long to search for her as she was going over Tony's medical notes anyway. "Amanda?" Gibbs tried to get her attention; she had asked to be called by her first name a few days ago as the whole 'Dr' thing seem too formal for a case like this.

Amanda turned towards Gibbs, hoping he was coming to tell her something had changed in her patient. "Has something happened?" She was disappointed when the look she was given told her nothing had changed, she sighed.

"Is there still drugs in his system?" Gibbs knew he was grasping at straws.

She shook her head apologetically. "Only the ones we are giving him for pain management."

"Can't you just check his blood again, to make sure?" Gibbs actually asked without anger, he was tired but he still wanted to make sure that nothing was being given to his Agent that shouldn't be, after all both the people involved had been nurses, there was nothing stopping them having friends even in a different hospital.

"I will check again," she faltered a moment knowing what needed to be said but not wanting to say it, "but it might be time to talk to that other doctor I told you about if he doesn't improve by the end of the week."

Gibbs didn't want to hear it but he also knew that she was being fair, there was only so much that she could do within her field. Maybe it was time to let the hospital psychologist try. "Can't you give him more time?"

"Gibbs, he's not even eating, it's affecting his recovery time, he needs to talk about what happened to be able to sleep and he's not talking to anyone. We're going to have to take extreme measures if nothing changes soon." Gibbs knew she was speaking the truth even if he didn't like hearing it, he'd been there and even asked Tony to eat or just say something.

Nothing was working. It was all wrong; it was like she was still ordering Tony around even though it was impossible. An idea sparked in his tired mind and Gibbs walked away from the doctor after thanking her.

x-X-x

_Sharp pain seared down his back, he moved but was immediately stopped by strong hands holding him down._

_He thought he heard a familiar voice apologising profusely and detected an accent to the voice, but surely someone familiar wouldn't hurt him this much. _

_His vision turned white in pain and then black as he became unconscious..._

_...But then he seemed to be his own body and watching what Ducky was doing to it and he could feel the doctor digging around in his back, looking for something. The pain heightened as he saw the usually kind doctor pull on something even though he wasn't connected to his body._

_Eve appeared out of nowhere behind Ducky and Gibbs, they seemed oblivious to her, holding a vicious knife he'd seen before. Before he could warn them she slashed down and warm blood blinded him._

_After she had finished dissecting his friends she turned to him holding the crimson knife, then she was behind him, whispering in his ear. "This is what will happen if you tell them."_

_Agony screamed in the centre of his chest, he looked down to try and see the cause and saw the knife imbedded there. Blood gurgled and bubbled up his throat and spilled out of his mouth as he tried to ask why._

Someone shook him roughly...

x-X-x

As soon as Gibbs stepped into Tony's room he knew that he was in the throes of a nightmare and by the look of it, a particularly bad one. Stepping up to his Agent's bedside he grabbed the younger man by the shoulders and shook him as hard as he dared. He didn't want to hurt him but he also couldn't leave him to relive what had happened.

He, Ducky and Amanda had come to the conclusion that something more had happened than what had been evident upon admission but they weren't going to find out unless Tony actually told them, at lot can happen in three months and be hidden.

Tony's eyes shocked open and seemed to choke on something harshly; Gibbs kept a firm hold on Tony hoping whatever was happening would pass soon. When it did, Tony looked around to see where he was and who had hold of him. Seeing Gibbs he wondered if it were a trick his mind was playing on him, Gibbs had just been strewn across the bloody ground after helping Ducky to cut him open.

Gibbs could see that Tony was thinking about something, the look that turned to him, however, was one that half surprised him and also one that he half expected after what they had needed to have done.

_Betrayal._

But at least it was better than a blank look. Right?

_TBC_


	15. Chapter 15

_Yay, I tralled through backed up files and found this I know its small but enjoy _

_Well, let's get on with this little story teehee!_

**Chapter 15**

Tony watched the two men in the room wearily though the silence that had resounded now that he'd been awakened. At the back of his mind a voice was telling him that these were his friends and he knew that, he did, but the most recent images of them made him cautious. It was either; they were figments of his imagination and they'd been cut up into little tiny puzzle pieces, or that they had cut into his back to get something out and he didn't like either scenario. Not one bit. His mind was a mess of images running together making a distorted collage of pain, blood and violence. And the more he thought about it the more drums decided to play in his head, he rubbed his forehead in order to try and rid himself of the coming headache.

Someone moved and he tensed as straight as a rod and closed his eyes. When nothing more happened than the shuffling of feet; he slowly looked around the room, only to find that Ducky had gone and that Gibbs was standing there just looking at him.

"You need to talk to us, Tony." The tone was calm as Gibbs spoke but Tony knew there was something more in it than that.

Tony looked away, crimson pools of blood seemed to appear before Gibbs when he looked back and he couldn't decided what was real. Tony jumped about a foot when he felt hands on his shoulders; gripping him firmly.

"It's. Not. Real." If Tony had been working on all cylinders he would know that Gibbs was almost at the end of his tether.

The uncertainty in the younger man's eyes almost tore Gibbs apart, it wasn't unusual to be confused about what was real and what wasn't when you'd been capture for a long period of time, and three months was anything but short. But, Gibbs had hoped that he would at least be talking or even eating by now.

But uncertainty wasn't the only thing there and Gibbs knew the reason for the betrayal.

"There was no other way, Tony; we needed to get you out." Gibbs almost cursed when he heard the desperation in his own voice, but the curse ready on his lips, stopped as he looked at his agent eyes again, they looked confused, as if Tony knew that tone wasn't normal in Gibbs and Gibbs almost smiled in spite of the situation.

Hearing the words from Gibbs' mouth made him recoil back from his boss, and made his back burn something fierce as he realized they had hurt him. But the desperate tone the admission had held wasn't normal and he knew it, he really did but he still couldn't speak. He knew if there had been any other way, they would have tried it but everything was still muddled in his brain and he didn't know what to think.

Images of Gibbs always having his back rushed his mind, he grabbed his head as if in pain as some things started making a little more sense than they had. He stared up at his boss but Gibbs was moving away and suddenly he got the feeling that he didn't want him to leave, which left him no option other than to shout the agent back. But talking forfeited their lives and he couldn't do that. But he felt his mouth start to speak without his permission.

"Wait." His voice was rough with disuse and barely audible.

Gibbs froze, wondering if he was just imagining things, or maybe he had only heard what he had wanted to hear and turned to look at Tony. The younger man looked on the verge of panic so he figured that he had spoken.

Then it clicked, Eve had obviously told him not to speak and threatened him with something horrible if he did. He wanted to head slap himself for not seeing it earlier and not having told Tony that he didn't have anything to fear now. Gibbs moved closer to his shaking agent, placed him arm around his shoulders and was surprised when Tony only tensed and not flinched away completely; spoke quietly so he wouldn't startle him.

"She can't hurt you anymore, you can talk to me Tony." Gibbs' voice was firm and Tony wanted to believe him, he did, but it wasn't his life he worried about and he needed Gibbs to know that.

But Tony tensed harder and for a moment Gibbs thought he had said the wrong thing, then Tony if possible, sounded more desperate than his plea for the older agent to stay.

"…but she threatened to kill the team." However, also in the tone was one that said Tony didn't care if his life was forfeit as long as everyone else was safe.

And Gibbs didn't know what to say to that, he wanted to tell the agent that his life was worth something to, but that had always been an issue he'd fought with the younger man over anyway, it just didn't help to hear it right now when they had only just gotten him back.

"She can't hurt anyone, Tony, she's safely locked up." He decided on something he hoped would allow Tony to relax a little more.

"How can you be sure?" The doubt in Tony's face was almost Gibbs' undoing, but he made sure his face stayed neutral, it wasn't Tony's fault after everything he'd been through.

He wanted to say that he'd put her there himself but he didn't want to lie to Tony, not now when he'd just got him talking, "I made sure she was there last night." And he had, and of course he'd had a few choice words to say to her but Tony didn't need to know that yet.

The younger man stared at him for a long time, Gibbs knew what he was doing; he was searching for the truth in his expression, as if he didn't trust the words. Obviously finding what he needed for the moment, Tony's eyelids started to droop but he snapped them open again in fear. Nothing good had come from sleeping before…


End file.
